MIAMI, United States. – The two strong earthquakes that shook the southeast of Cuba this Sunday caused injuries to seven people and significant material damage, according to official reports broadcast by state media. The earthquakes caused 26 total building collapses, including private homes and public premises, and affected more than 2,250 houses in the region.
The report, issued by the Presidency At the conclusion of the meeting of the National Defense Council, it also details that there were “affects in 30 health institutions and 40 schools, as well as nine landslides in mountainous areas.” State television previously reported damage to telephone and electrical infrastructure, leaving about 14,000 customers without electricity service due to problems with wiring, poles and transformers.
The most affected municipalities are Pilón, Niquero, Media Luna, Bartolomé Masó and Manzanillo. “Up to now, 2,018 damages to homes have been recorded (26 total collapses),” the authorities noted during the session of the National Defense Council, chaired by the ruler Miguel Díaz-Canel.
The earthquakes occurred at 10:50 am and 11:51 am on Sunday, with magnitudes of 6.0 and 6.7 degrees on the Richter scale, respectively. Since then, 1,130 aftershocks have been detected, 47 of which have been noticeable, especially in the municipality of Pilón.
In Santiago de Cuba, damage was reported in 234 homes, mainly to walls, ceilings and walls.
The official newspaper The Demajagua explained that in Pilón, where three total collapses and more than 200 partial damages were preliminarily reported, two people were injured, a five-year-old girl and a 48-year-old woman.
Similarly, in the municipality of Media Luna, specifically in the La Juanita community, a minor and an unidentified adult were injured during the earthquakes.
In Pilón, the Félix Lugones Ramírez Hospital was severely affected by the earthquakes and the patients had to be transferred to a safe area. As reported The Demajaguamedical services are reinforced for “comprehensive patient care.”
The images published by the local site show the damage to the ceilings and structure of the facilities.
The two earthquakes that shook several provinces in Eastern Cuba this Sunday caused landslides, damage to homes and damage to power lines, according to authorities.
The earthquakes were noticeable in the provinces of Santiago de CubaGuantánamo, Holguín and Ciego de Ávila. Enrique Diego Arango Arias, head of the Seismological Service of the National Center for Seismological Research (CENAIS), confirmed the events and explained that this type of tremors are called “premonitors”, since they can precede earthquakes of greater magnitude. However, he assured that there was no danger of a tsunami.
