A major 6.1 magnitude earthquake occurred in Cuba on Monday, according to data released by the United States Geological Survey. Federal researchers traced the origin of the powerful quake to a point 104 kilometers west-northwest of Mantua, Cuba. The impact of the shockwave traveled hundreds of miles north. In Florida, the National Weather Service in Jacksonville reported receiving a wave of calls and messages detailing noticeable shaking and tremors from residents.
The Tsunami Warning Center confirmed that there is no tsunami threat for the U.S. east coast, Gulf states, or the eastern coast of Canada. Meteorologists have not yet confirmed exactly how many total households felt the physical effects of the distant Cuban earthquake. Officials have also not disclosed any immediate reports of structural damage or injuries along the Florida coast.
While the shaking caught many coastal residents by surprise, emergency management personnel stressed that area beaches are completely safe. Rose Hilmo, a marine geology professor at the University of Tampa, said Florida felt surface waves, which travel on the outer shell of the earth and shake buildings and people.
“You felt the actual earthquake,” Hilmo said. “It just takes some time for those waves to travel away from the source and be felt by people in the surrounding regions.” Earthquakes are uncommon in the region because the Caribbean tectonic plate runs south of Cuba. But the earthquake was north of the island, so Hilmo said an old fault line caused this. “There’s been stress on that old subduction zone boundary that resulted in this thrust fault earthquake,” Hilmo said. It could be a reason many people did not realize it was an earthquake.
[ Tampa Earthquake ]