A 6.1 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Cuba was felt in parts of Florida on Monday afternoon. Some people in Tallahassee reported feeling shaking despite the epicenter being more than 500 miles away.
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6.1 magnitude earthquake confirmed off coast of Cuba, reports of shaking felt across Florida
The earthquake struck around 2:00 p.m. near Cuba’s western coast, roughly 515 miles south-southwest of Tallahassee. Officials say there was no tsunami threat, and no damage has been reported in the Tallahassee area.
Vincent Salters, Director of the FSU Geochemistry Program of the MagLab, said the event was highly unusual.
“It is relatively rare that there is an earthquake in that region, especially of this magnitude. It is extremely rare that an earthquake can be felt in Tallahassee. The U.S. Geological Survey shake map does not indicate that shaking is felt in Tallahassee, thus the shaking was extremely light,” Salters said.
While earthquakes occasionally happen in the Caribbean region, it is unusual for one of this size to be felt as far north as Tallahassee. Any shaking experienced in the area would have been extremely light, according to Salters.
Salters also noted that the location of the earthquake stands out to researchers.
“The location of this last earthquake is one that is peculiar. There have been few earthquakes to the south of Cuba. This one seems unrelated to those,” Salters said.
There have been relatively few earthquakes recorded south of Cuba, making Monday’s event somewhat unusual compared to past seismic activity in the region.
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