Moderate earthquake along the Cuba coast – Also felt in Key West (Florida)

Last update: January 10, 2014 at 10:20 am by By Ashish Khanal

Update January 10 10:18 UTC : This is the latest bulletin of the official Cuban newspaper Granma :
Sismo perceptible en varias provincias
A las 3:57 p.m., de ayer, la Red de Estaciones del Servicio Sismológico Nacional cubano registró un sismo localizado en las coordenadas 23.39 Latitud Norte y los 80.99 Longitud Oeste a 73,7 km al Noreste de Varadero, en la provincia de Matanzas, a una profundidad de 20 km y una magnitud de 4,9 en la escala Richter.
Se han recibido reportes de perceptibilidad en La Habana, en Corralillo y Sagua la Grande en la provincia de Villa Clara, en Varadero y Jagüey Grande en la provincia de Matanzas.
No se reportan daños materiales ni humanos.
= NO damage has been reported due to this earthquake

Update 22:59 UTC : Cubans are reporting that the shaking lasted for about 30 seconds and that the Cuban Seismological agency had reduced the Magnitude of the earthquake to M4.9

Update 22:45 UTC : No reports of damage so far. The earthquake was of course felt in La Havana were 2 buildings were temporarily evacuated

Update : Such an earthquake may at max. give some current at the beaches but certainly NO tsunami. A Magnitude of M7 or more is needed to have enough energy to generate a tsunami.

Update 22:08 UTC : The picture below is from a seismograph installed in Florida and reported over the Internet by the seismological service of Nicaragua. It can be of a better quality, but one can see very well at the bottom when the earthquake started.

Update 21:52 UTC : We would not be surprised that minor damage would be inflicted in Cuba in the La Teja – Coralillio area. The distance from the epicenter to these cities is normally big enough to avoid damage but the location of the epicenter has always a relatively big error margin.

Typical houses in Coralillo, Cuba – Image courtesy TinTin collection

Request : Are you one of the people who felt the shaking of this earthquake ? If yes, please fill in the form below by clicking on the  “I Felt It” button behind the corresponding Earthquake” below. Thank you. May we also please ask our Cuban friends who have felt this earthquake to share what they felt with us. Thank you

Update 21:43 UTC : Nobody has reported damage yet in Cuba (excluded in the USA). The epicenter being into the sea, the impact of the shaking will be limited. Weak shaking was reported in Key West and in Havana.

The earthquake was in fact along the Cuban coast, but was also felt in the Key West peninsula. A very unusual location for an earthquake !

38km (24mi) N of Corralillo, Cuba 51km (32mi) NE of Marti, Cuba 66km (41mi) ENE of Varadero, Cuba 67km (42mi) ENE of Cardenas, Cuba 180km (112mi) E of Havana, Cuba

Most important Earthquake Data: Magnitude : 5

from:    http://earthquake-report.com/2014/01/09/moderate-earthquake-cuba-region-on-january-9-2014/