Two strong earthquakes hit off the coast of Cuba late Sunday morning, causing people in Florida to feel the ground move. For a short time, there were fears that a tsunami could hit places in the Caribbean closest to the epicenter.
The University of Southern California (USGS) says the two shocks happened about an hour apart.
The first one, a magnitude 5.9, was felt just before 11 a.m. ET, about 22 miles south of Bartolomé Masó, Cuba, and about 9 miles below the surface.
After an hour, just before noon ET, the second earthquake was reported. It was the bigger of the two. The earthquake was 6.8 on the Richter scale, and its center was about 25 miles south of Bartolomé Masó and 8 miles below the surface.
A few days before the big earthquake, Hurricane Rafael hit land in western Cuba as a Category 3 hurricane, cutting power to a lot of people across the island.
In less than a month, Rafael was the second storm to hit the island. At least six people died in October when Hurricane Oscar hit land in Cuba.
As soon as the second earthquake was reported, the National Weather Service Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) in Honolulu sent out an alert saying that there was “a very small possibility of tsunami waves along coasts nearest to the epicenter,” but there was no major threat of a tsunami.
The NWS National Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer, Alaska, said that the East Coast of the United States, the Gulf of Mexico, and the eastern coast of Canada were not at risk of tsunamis.
The PTWC said that would be the only notice it would send. National governments will decide what amount of warning is right for each country and may send out more or better information.
Reports on the USGS website say that people in Florida, from Miami to Hollywood and Boca Raton and even as far north as Orlando, felt the ground shake.
On the other hand, the City of Miami said on Facebook that the earthquake’s effects had not been seen in Florida, even though the USGS website said they had.
“The City of Miami is aware that some residents in the Brickell/Downtown area may be concerned about the recent earthquake off the coast of Cuba, but we want to reassure everyone that no earthquake or aftershocks are being felt in Miami,” the city said in a statement.
Residents have called the fire department to be worried, but officials said, “We want to emphasize that there is no cause for alarm.”
As of now, there have been no reports of harm or damage in Florida.