Powerful earthquake strikes Cuba's east coast, residents feel strongest shake ever

A 6.8-magnitude earthquake hit eastern Cuba today causing widespread damage to buildings and infrastructure. The shake which struck near Bartolome Maso follows recent hurricane damage and power-grid issues

November 10 2024 , 10:06 PM  •  4520 views

Powerful earthquake strikes Cuba's east coast, residents feel strongest shake ever

A strong earth-shake hit Cubaʼs eastern region today causing major problems in Santiago de Cuba (the countryʼs second-biggest city)

Miguel Diaz-Canel posted on X about land-slides and house damage: his team started checking the area right away. The quake struck near Bartolome Maso - a history-rich spot where Fidel Castro once had his base during the revolution

Weʼve felt earthquakes in the past but nothing like this

Santiago resident Griselda Fernandez told Reuters by phone

The main 6.8-magnitude shake (which went 8.7 miles deep) came after a 5.9 one; both hits made terra-cotta roofs fall and concrete walls crack. Local houses - many of them old-style buildings got damage to their:

  • Walls and ceilings
  • Windows and columns
  • Support structures
  • Outside walls

This natural disaster hits while east Cuba still deals with Hurricane Oscarʼs effects from 10/2024; plus Hurricane Rafael just broke the power grid last week leaving 10m people without power

The area sees most of Cubaʼs earth-moves because of a fault-line that marks where North American and Caribbean plates meet; experts say more after-shakes might come but dont expect any tsunami. The shake didnt affect Havana - the nations capital