Strong earthquake in the perceptible Caribbean in West of Cuba: Brief Tsunami alert

An earthquake 7.6 shook the Caribbean Sea southwest of the Cayman Islands on Saturday afternoon, the United States Geological Service (USGS) reported, and some countries in the region, including Cuba, urged the population to move away of the coasts in the face of the danger of a possible tsunami.

The earthquake was recorded at 6:23 in the afternoon local time, in an open sea, at a depth of 10 kilometers, said the USGS. His epicenter was located 209 kilometers south-southwest of George Town, in the Cayman Islands.

According to the state National Seismological Research Center of Cuba (Cenais), the earthquake was noticeable in the west of the countryincluding the provinces of Havana, Mayabeque and Pinar del Río. There were no reports of perceptibility in the east of the island, where seismic activity is more frequent.

The Dinner reported that the earthquake occurred «at a depth of 10 km, and with a magnitude of 7.1 degrees, located 440 km south of the island of youth.» Experts from that institution dismissed the possibility of a tsunami.

«This type of failure does not generate Tsunami, usually,» said the head of the Seismological Service of Cuba, Enrique Diego Arango Arias. «There is no historical record of Tsunami with earthquakes that occurred in this failure,» he said.

The Cuban government had asked people to leave the areas off the coast. «Tsunami protocols are automatically activated, but does not mean that it will necessarily happen,» said Arango Arias.

Later on Saturday, the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration Office of the United States said it was possible that «waves of 1 to 3 meters above the tide level along some coasts of Cuba.»

The island has remained alert in recent months after the occurrence of two strong earthquakes at the end of 2024. At the beginning of November an earthquake of magnitude 6.7 on the Richter scale, shook the east of Cubaabout 40 kilometers south of the town of Bartolomé Masó, in the province of Granma. Less than an hour before another had been recorded, with a magnitude of 6 degrees.

The two strong earthquakes also had their epicenter in the Caribbean Sea and felt strongly in the Cuban provinces of Granma and Santiago de Cuba, although they were also noticeable in Guantanamo, Holguín, Camagüey, Sancti Spíritus and blind of Ávila.

After this Saturday’s earthquake in the Caribbean, the United States Tsunamis Alert Center said there was no tsunami alert for the US continental territory, but issued a preventive warning for Puerto Rico and the US virgin islands, which was canceled later, reported The Associated Press.

Meanwhile, the Risk Management Agency of the Cayman Islands urged residents located near the coast to move inland and higher land. He indicated that wave increases of between 30 centimeters and one meter are expected. Then the Government of the Cayman islands reported on Facebook that the danger had passed.

The governor of Puerto Rico, Jenniffer González Colón, said in a statement that he was in contact with the emergency agencies after the Tsunami notice, but did not recommend leaving the coast. The sound of alarms in the northwest region of Puerto Rico caused people to leave coastal areas and caused intense traffic, AP said, citing local media.

Dominican Republic also issued a Tsunami alert and recommended residents on the coast to move to high areas of more than 20 meters above sea level and 2 kilometers inland. He later canceled the alert.

The Honduras government reported that there are no reports of damage to the earthquake so far, but asked the population to stay away from the beaches.

(Includes AP information)