A 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck off the west coast of Cuba on Tuesday, sending tremors across Orlando and central Florida just days after the England football team arrived for their World Cup campaign.
Earthquake Details
The tremor, registering 6.1 on the Richter scale, originated off the western coast of Cuba, sending shockwaves through Orlando and various other parts of Florida. The National Weather Service confirmed there is no risk of a tsunami threatening the United States.
The Service posted on Twitter: "We've received several recent reports of shaking across Southwestern Florida within the past 30 minutes. An earthquake has occurred just west of Cuba in the southern Gulf." The US Geological Survey has since revised the magnitude down to a 6.1 at a depth of 10km.
Impact on Florida
Beyond Orlando, the tremors were also felt in Miami and Jacksonville, with numerous buildings evacuated as a precautionary measure after they began to shake. The quake struck at a depth of six miles (10km) in waters just west of the capital, according to the US Geological Survey.
The Oriente fault zone is located just off Cuba’s southeast coast and has unleashed damaging earthquakes in recent centuries, including a 7.7 magnitude quake on January 2020 in open waters that caused damage in Cuba and the Cayman Islands.
England's World Cup Campaign
The England squad had touched down in Florida just days before the earthquake, setting up their training camp ahead of the World Cup. The tremors caused brief disruption but no injuries or damage to the team's facilities have been reported.
