The first earthquake perceptible in Cuba during the present year was registered this Wednesday to the southwest of the special municipality Isle of Youthaccording to official media.
The network of stations of the Cuban National Seismological Service (SSN) reported that the telluric movement occurred at 10:16 am, some 600 kilometers from the mentioned territory, according to an office of the Cuban News Agency (ACN).
According to information released by the National Center for Seismological Research (Cenais), the tremor had a magnitude of 5.5 on the Richter scale and its epicenter was located at the coordinates 16.754 degrees north latitude and -86.073 degrees west longitude, at a depth of 10 kilometres.
The institution adds that perceptibility reports were received from various towns on Isla de la Juventud, as well as tall buildings in Havana and other cities in the country’s central-western territory.
The experts confirmed that up to the time of issuing the statement they had not been aware of material or human damage caused by the phenomenon.
Cuba closed 2022 with 13 perceptible earthquakes, a figure that reflects a period in ranges of “normality with nuances in its behavior,” according to a summary prepared by the SSN. However, in that period there were a total of 6,647 movements registered by the stations deployed throughout the country.
The Santiago-Baconao area was the most active with 1,468 tremors, while Camagüey-Cubitas was the “most energetic”.
Most of the events took place in areas of seismic activity related to the Oriente fault, points out the aforementioned compendium.
The largest earthquake last year was recorded north of Las Tunas. It had a magnitude of 5.0 on the Richter scale and was located 60 kilometers from Puerto Padre.
Earthquakes also occurred in the central and western regions, although with magnitudes less than 3.0.
