Earthquake hits off the northern coast of Cuba — again

Posted on Wednesday, 02.05.14

Earthquake hits off the northern coast of Cuba — again
Florida Keys and Cuba rattled by a rare quake
BY MIAMI HERALD STAFF

An earthquake hit in waters off Cuba Tuesday night — the second time in
less than a month.

The 4.3 magnitude quake, measured by the U.S. Geological Survey, was
reported at 10:19 p.m. off the northern coast, some 100 miles east of
Havana, near the town of Martí.

It's unclear if the minor quake was felt in Cuba or if it caused any damage.

After Tuesday night's quake, the National Weather Service in Miami-Dade
said there was no threat of a tsunami .

On Jan. 9, a 5.1-magnitude quake hit in a similar area off the island
coast. That quake was felt in the Florida Keys and as far north as Naples.

The earthquake east of Havana puzzled scientists, who said it came
during a two-week spate of tremors in the region.

The source of the frequent tremors in the region is the slow movement of
the Caribbean plate, which moves about one inch each year along a
boundary against the North American plate. It's when the two plates
catch along fault lines, build up pressure and then release that quakes
happen, in a process sometimes called "stick-slip."

Occasionally the quakes are more significant, such as the 6.4 magnitude
tremors recorded off Puerto Rico on Jan. 13. Earthquakes that size may
happen off Puerto Rico once every few years, Bellini said.

"I won't say every year but they do happen," he said.

When it comes to the islands of Hispaniola and Puerto Rico, two
east-west fault lines cause much of the seismic activity, including the
recent quakes.

The Septentrional fault line, which runs across the northern parts of
Haiti and the Dominican Republic and stretches out into the Caribbean
Sea, was the cause of the 6.4 magnitude quake off Puerto Rico.

The quake, with an epicenter about 35 miles north of the island, was the
strongest in the region in the last few weeks.

No injuries were reported, but dozens of small aftershocks have followed.

Miami Herald staff writer David Smiley contributed to this report.

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