Miami, United States. – An earthquake of magnitude 3.4 degrees on the Richter scale was recorded at 8:29 am on January 24, with epicenter 31 kilometers southwest of the city of Santiago de Cuba, according to The National Seismological Research Center (Cenais) reported.
The telluric movement occurred at a depth of 4.1 kilometers and is the first perceptible tremor so far this year.
According to the official report, “so far reports of perceptibility have been received in the municipalities of Santiago de Cuba and Palma, province of Santiago de Cuba.” Dinalis added that “no damage has been reported.”
The year 2024 closed with an unpublished record of 12,806 earthquakes in the national territory, according to the seismicity summary Disclosed By Enrique Arango Arias, head of the National Seismological Service of Cuba, attached to Cenais.
The figure, the highest to date, responds mainly to three large telluric movements that occurred between November and December of last year.
According to Arango Arias, “2024 has been the year in which there has been a greater number of earthquakes for the National Seismological Service of Cuba in the national territory (12,806).” The report specifies that November 10 There were two earthquakes, 6.0 and 6.7 magnitudeabout 40 kilometers southeast of Pilón, in the province of Granma, and on December 23 another 6.1 earthquake to the south of the municipality of Guama, in Santiago de Cuba.
As a consequence of these events, 8,873 replicas were counted – after the earthquakes of November 10 – and 446 after the 6.1 of December 23. According to the expert, “given the magnitude of these earthquakes, the replicas will continue, which is completely normal, although they must decrease in quantity and magnitude over time.”
As for the perceptible seismicity, the National Seismological Service of Cuba officially reported 20 earthquakes in its informative bulletins. However, the number of “probably noticeable” earthquakes amounted to 143 until December 31, since it “assumed that the earthquakes more than 2.5 were sensed by the people who live in the places closest to these epicenters” .
In addition, the dinneris report includes an evaluation of the intensities of the 6.7 earthquake of November 10. In locations such as Pilón, Bartolomé Masó and surrounding areas, the intensity reached the VIII degrees on the European Macrosism Scale (EMS/1998), while other municipalities recorded intensities of between V and VII degrees. “All damages are a consequence of existing vulnerabilities,” said Arango Arias.
Similarly, he explained that the two strong earthquakes of November 10 were perceived “by 100% of the residents surveyed, causing panic in many of them.”
