Tremors of magnitude 6.8 and 5.9: in just a few hours, two earthquakes felt in Cuba

A magnitude 6.8 earthquake shook eastern Cuba on Sunday, according to the United States Geological Survey, weakening buildings in Santiago de Cuba, the island's second largest city.

Two shakes

About an hour earlier, a first tremor with a magnitude of 5.9 was felt, the American institute said. The earthquakes struck the southeastern coast of Cuba, in the province of Granma, near the municipality of Bartolomé Maso, where the headquarters of former leader Fidel Castro was located during the Cuban revolution.

Several residents in the area told Reuters they felt a strong earthquake. Homes and buildings shook violently, they said, and dishes fell from shelves. Damage was reported in Pilon, near the epicenter of the earthquake. A series of natural disasters have hit Cuba in recent months, notably the passage of Hurricane Oscar in October.

Last week, the national electricity grid collapsed after Hurricane Rafael, leaving 10 million people without power. Power cuts are frequent in the eastern part of Cuba affected by Sunday's earthquake.

Seismic activity concerns the Santiago region due to the presence of a fault marking the border between the North American plate and the Caribbean plate, according to the Cuban seismic service. The island's capital, Havana, was not affected by the earthquake.