Cuba begins damage assessment after three earthquakes in three hours

Several Jamaicans took to social media when the first and second quakes occurred at 9:50 AM and 11:49 AM local time respectively.

Then at 12:45 JA Time a 4.6 magnitude tremor was felt yet again off the coast of the Spanish-speaking nation. All three quakes, the first being a 5.9 magnitude, had their epicenter measured south southwest of Bartolome Maso, Cuba, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

Buildings in Santiago, the Cuban capital, shook violently, the BBC has reported.

An hour later after the third quake, Cuban Presdent Miguel Diaz-Canel tweeted on X (formerly Twitter): “There have been landslides, damage to homes and power lines,” before adding: “We are beginning to assess the damage in order to begin recovery. The first and most important thing is to save lives.”

The earthquakes have compounded the woes of Cubans living on the island in the wake of last week’s devastation by Hurricane Rafael that caused flooding and a total blackout of state’s power grid.