List of earthquakes in Cuba

Map showing regional tectonic setting of the Oriente fault zone

Cuba is located in an area with several active fault systems which produce on average about 2000 seismic events each year.^[1] While most registered seismic events pass unnoticed, the island has been struck by a number of destructive earthquakes over the past four centuries, including several major quakes with a magnitude of 7.0 or above.

Approximately 70% of seismic activity in Cuba emanates from the Oriente fault zone, located in the Bartlett-Cayman fault system which runs along the south-eastern coast of Cuba and marks the tectonic boundary between the North American Plate and the Caribbean Plate.^[2] The 12 currently active faults in Cuba also include the Cauto-Nipe, Cochinos and Nortecubana faults.^[2] Destructive earthquakes originating from the Oriente fault occurred in 1766 ($M_{i}$=7.6), 1852 ($M_{i}$=7.2) and 1932 ($M_{s}$=6.75).^[3] Some studies suggest there is a high probability the Oriente fault will produce a magnitude 7 earthquake in the near future.^[4]

Notable earthquakes in recent Cuban history include the following:

Name	Date	Epicentre	M	Intensity	Depth	Notes	Deaths
1578 Cuba earthquake	August 1578	Santiago de Cuba[1]	6.8	VIII	30 km	Magnitude estimated at 6.8 ML on the Richter magnitude scale, intensity at VIII EMS-98.[1]
1580 Cuba earthquake	1580-12-19	Santiago de Cuba [5]
1632 Cuba earthquake	October 1632	Santiago de Cuba [6]
1675 Cuba earthquake	1675-02-11	Santiago de Cuba [1][7]	5.8	VII	30 km	Magnitude estimated at 5.8 ML on the Richter magnitude scale, intensity at VII EMS-98.[1]
1678 Cuba earthquake	1678-02-11 14:59	Santiago de Cuba [7]	6.8	VIII	30 km	Magnitude estimated at 6.8 ML on the Richter magnitude scale, intensity at VIII EMS-98.[1]
1679 Cuba earthquake	1679-02-11	Santiago de Cuba [7]
1682 Cuba earthquake	1682	Santiago de Cuba [7]	5.8	VII	30 km	Magnitude estimated at 5.8 ML on the Richter magnitude scale, intensity at VII EMS-98.[1]
1693 Cuba earthquake	July 1693	Havana[8]				"1,500 houses thrown down"
1757 Cuba earthquake	1757-12-14	Santiago de Cuba [9]
1766 Cuba earthquake	1766-06-11 05:14	Santiago de Cuba [10]	7.6 $M_{i}$[3]	IX	35 km	Magnitude estimated at 7.6 ML on the Richter magnitude scale, intensity at IX EMS-98.[1]	120
1826 Cuba earthquake	1826-09-18 09:26	Santiago de Cuba [11]	5.8	VII	30 km	Magnitude estimated at 5.8 ML on the Richter magnitude scale, intensity at VII EMS-98.[1]
1842 Cuba earthquake	1842-07-07	Santiago de Cuba[1]	6.0	VII	30 km	Magnitude estimated at 6.0 ML on the Richter magnitude scale, intensity at VII EMS-98.[1]
1852 Cuba earthquake	1852-08-20 14:05 UTC	Santiago de Cuba [10][12]	7.2 $M_{i}$[3]	IX	30 km	Intensity estimated at IX EMS-98,[1] with 26 heavy aftershocks. Caused severe damage to churches and other buildings in Santiago de Cuba, as well as landslides in the Sierra Maestra region. Shaking felt in the whole of eastern Cuba, up to the islands of Jamaica and Hispaniola.[13]
1852 Cuba earthquake (November)	1852-11-26 08:37 GMT	Santiago de Cuba, Sierra Maestra[1][14]	7.0	VIII	35 km
1858 Cuba earthquake	1858-01-28 22:04	Santiago de Cuba[1]	6.5	VII	30 km
1880 Cuba earthquake	1880-01-23 04:39	San Cristóbal/Vuelta Abajo (Pinar del Río) [1][15][16]	6.0	VIII	15 km	A series of severe shock waves originating from western Cuba were also felt in the town of Key West (Florida), and included a strong earthquake on 23 January 1880 in San Cristóbal, Pinar del Río at 4 a.m.[16]
1903 Cuba earthquake	1903-09-22 08:09	Santiago de Cuba[1]	5.7	VII	30 km
1906 Cuba earthquake	1906-06-22 07:09	Santiago de Cuba[1]	6.2	VII	30 km
1914 Cuba earthquake	1914-02-28 05:19	Gibara[1]	6.2	VII	32 km
1914 Cuba earthquake	1914-12-25 05:19	Santiago de Cuba[1]	6.7	VII	30 km
1932 Cuba earthquake	1932-02-03	20°00′00″N 75°48′00″W / 20.000°N 75.800°W Santiago de Cuba [17]	6.75 $M_{s}$[3]	VIII		Intensity estimated at VIII EMS-98.[1] 8[17] - 1500[18] deaths, 300 injured. 80% of buildings in Santiago de Cuba affected.,[17] with damage totaling 15 million Pesos.[13]	8
1947 Cuba earthquake	1947-08-07 00:40:20 hrs	19°45′N 75°19′W / 19.75°N 75.32°W Santiago de Cuba [19]	6.8	VIII	50 km	Magnitude estimated at 6.8 ML and intensity VIII EMS-98.[1]
1992 Cuba earthquake	1992-05-25 16:55:04 UTC	19°36′47″N 77°52′19″W / 19.613°N 77.872°W Cabo Cruz, Pilón–Manzanillo[20]	6.9 $M_{s}$[21]	VII	23 km	A strong earthquake struck the Cabo Cruz sector, leaving 40 people injured and more than 820 buildings damaged in the Pilon-Manzanillo area.[22]	-

M = Magnitude on the Richter magnitude scale (M_L), unless stated otherwise

Intensity= Intensity on the European Macroseismic Scale (EMS-98), which is somewhat similar to the Modified Mercalli scale (MM)

References

1. Oficina Nacional de Estadísticas, 2009
2. Cotilla, 2007
3. Alvarez 1999:2
4. Rubio, 1985
5. Milne, 1912: 30
6. Milne, 1912: 32
7. Milne, 1912: 36
8. Milne, 1912: 37
9. Milne, 1912: 44
10. Cotilla, 2003
11. Milne, 1912: 54
12. Milne, 1912: 62
13. ONE, 2006
14. Milne 1912: 63
15. Milne 1912: 80
16. "Florida. Earthquake History". Retrieved 2010-01-25.
17. "Significant Earthquake". National Geophysical Data Center. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
18. Earthquake in Cuba. 1500 Deaths reported. The Sidney Morning Herald, Feb. 4, 1932.
19. A Chronological History of the U.S. Navy Cruiser U.S.S. LITTLE ROCK
20. USGS. "Significant Earthquakes of the World, 1992". Retrieved 2010-01-25.
21. Pierrot et al, 1998
22. Earthquake in Cuba Injures 40 and Destroys 100 Homes

Other sources

• Alvarez, Leonardo; Giuliano F. Panza; Franco Vaccari; Bertha E. Gonzalez (December 1999), Modelling of seismic ground motion in Santiago de Cuba city from earthquakes in Oriente fault seismic zone, Trieste/Miramare: The Abdus Salara International Centre for Theoretical Physics
• Blanco Moreno, Jesús; Joaquín Proenza Fernández (2000). "Sistematización tectonoestratigráfica de Cuba centro oriental". Revista Minería y Geología. XVII (1): 35–45. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
• Calais, E.; J. Perrot; B. Mercier de Lépinay (1997). "Tectonic and Kinematic Regime along the Northern Caribbean Plate Boundary: New Insights from Broad-band Modeling of the May 25, 1992, Ms = 6.9 Cabo Cruz, Cuba, Earthquake". Pure and Applied Geophysics. 149 (3): 475–487. doi:10.1007/s000240050036. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
• Calais, E.; J. Perrot; B. Mercier de Lépinay (1998). "Strike-slip tectonics and seismicity along the northern Caribbean plate boundary from Cuba to Hispaniola" (PDF). Geological Society of America Special Papers. Geological Society of America. 326 (326): 125–169. doi:10.1130/0-8137-2326-4.125. ISBN 0-8137-2326-4. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
• Cotilla Rodriguez, M.O. (2003). "The Santiago de Cuba earthquake of 11 June 1766: Some new insights" (PDF). Geofísica Internacional. 42 (4): 589–602. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
• Cotilla Rodriguez, M.O.; Franzke, H.J.; Córdoba Barba, D. (June 2007). "Seismicity and seismoactive faults of Cuba". Russian Geology and Geophysics. 48 (6): 505–522. Bibcode:2007RuGG...48..505C. doi:10.1016/j.rgg.2006.08.004. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
• Lander, James F. (1997). "Caribbean Tsunamis: An initial history" (PDF). In Ahmad, Rafi. Natural hazards and hazard management in the Greater Caribbean and Latin America. 3. Kingston: Unit for Disaster Studies, University of the West Indies. pp. 1–18. ISBN 976-41-0115-1.
• Milne, John (1912). A catalogue of destructive earthquakes, A.D. 7 to A.D. 1899. London: British Association for Advancement of Science. Seismological Committee.
• Oficina Nacional de Estadísticas (ONE) (2006). "4. Desastres naturales". Compendio de Estadísticas del Medio Ambiente de Cuba, 1990–2004 (PDF). Havana: Oficina Nacional de Estadísticas.
• Oficina Nacional de Estadísticas (ONE) (2009). "Terremotos fuertes reportados en Cuba". Anuario Estadístico de Cuba 2008. Havana: Oficina Nacional de Estadísticas.
• Rubio, M. (1985). The assessment of seismic hazard for the Republic of Cuba. Prague: Ph.D. Thesis, Institute of Geophysics, Science Academy of Czechoslovakia.
• USGS. "Significant Earthquakes of the World, 1992". Retrieved 2010-01-25.