MIAMI.-A earthquake of magnitude 4.3 was felt during the early hours of this Monday in the province of Granma, specifically in the municipality of Pilón, and in other towns in eastern Cuba.
The earthquake occurred at 1:52 am (local time) and had its epicenter 34 kilometers southeast of Pilón, according to Enrique Diego Arango Arias, Head of the National Seismological Service, through a post on Facebook.
The depth of the earthquake was initially reported by the National Center for Seismological Research (CENAIS) as 5 kilometers, but Arango Arias later corrected the figure, placing it at 10 kilometers.
Two weeks after the earthquakes that occurred last November 10. Until this Sunday, a total of 5,792 aftershocks were recorded. Of these aftershocks, 125 have probably been perceived in the areas near the epicenter.
According to official figures, after the 6.0 and 6.7 earthquakes, damage to nearly 4,000 buildings and destruction of road, telephone and electrical infrastructure were reported.
Earthquakes recorded in 2023
Last year, Cuba experienced a total of 7,475 earthquakesof which only 14 were noticeable, according to a CENAIS report.
Most of the earthquakes in the national territory were related to the fault Eastthe main area of seismic activity located south of the eastern region of Cuba. This area constitutes a tectonic plate boundary and is a constant source of telluric movements.
Additionally, significant seismic activity was recorded outside the plate boundary zone, particularly in northern Las Tunas and in the southern area of moa (Holguin). Three earthquake swarms were observed in these areas with around 500 events each, although with magnitudes less than 4 on the Richter scale.
The 14 perceptible earthquakes are geographically distributed as follows: five related to the plate boundary zone south of eastern Cuba, five within the national territory and another four with epicenters outside the country (two in Haitione in Jamaica and one north of Honduras). In all these cases, the maximum intensity felt in Cuba was III on the EMS/98 scale.