A powerful 5.9 magnitude earthquake occurred Sunday off the southern coast of the island of Cuba, not far from the large city of Santiago de Cuba, according to the United States Institute of Geophysics (USGS).
The epicenter of the earthquake is located 14.2 kilometers under the ocean, about 35 kilometers from the coast of Bartolome Maso, in the province of Granma, and 175 kilometers from Santiago de Cuba, the country's second city.
“The ground moved very hard”
The National Center for Seismological Investigations (Cenais) of Cuba and local authorities in Santiago de Cuba have confirmed a “earthquake of 5.4 on the Richter scale perceptible east of Cuba”and “aftershocks are reported”according to the official Caribe television channel.
The tremor was felt in all the eastern provinces of the island, as well as in those of Camagüey and Ciego de Ávila (center), reported the official newspaper Granma, which did not report any casualties at this stage. “Here, people quickly took to the streets because the ground moved very hard”Andres Perez, a 65-year-old retiree who lives in central Santiago de Cuba, told AFP by telephone.
