This story was written by Michael Butler and Tess Riki. It was originally published by the Tribune News Service here: https://delivery.tribuneconten...
MIAMI — When earthquakes shook Cuba on Sunday, a few people in Miami felt them.
Social media users quickly shared videos showing the local effects of the earthquake, but a city of Miami spokeswoman stated on Monday that there was “nothing of concern” to report regarding damages or injuries.
Kenia Fallat, a spokeswoman for the city of Miami, said Miami Fire Rescue responded to three calls about the earthquake on Sunday: one downtown, and two in the Brickell area. The people who called were worried about potential danger, but there were no reported injuries.
“Nothing of concern,” Fallat said.
To quell any panic, the city put out a statement yesterday informing residents that the U.S. Geological Survey did not detect any earthquakes or aftershocks in South Florida and that “there is no cause for alarm.”
Fallat said the city is aware of videos posted to social media depicting tremors, but that the city could not verify the authenticity of those videos.
“There have been about two dozen earthquakes of a magnitude 5.5 and larger in that region in the past handle of decades, but that doesn’t mean that it’s a common enough occurrence that the people who experience it feel like it’s regular,” Dara Goldberg of the U.S. Geological Survey told NBC6 South Florida.
The social media videos from residents in communities across Miami show the effects of the tremors — slowly swinging shades and a chandelier in coastal high rises.
At 12:07 p.m. Sunday, Miami meteorologist Jeff Van Fleet shared a user in Edgewater’s video showing a light shaking moments after the 6.5 magnitude earthquake occurred.
