Note: Map shows the area with a shake intensity of 3 or greater, which U.S.G.S. defines as “weak,” though the earthquake may be felt outside the areas shown. The New York Times
A strong, 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck in the Gulf of Mexico on Monday, according to the United States Geological Survey.
The temblor happened at 2 p.m. Eastern about 65 miles northwest of Mantua, Cuba, data from the agency shows.
There were no immediate reports of widespread damage, though light shaking was reported as far away as South Florida and Cancun in Mexico, according to the U.S.G.S. In Miami, city officials said in a statement that people “in several areas” had made calls to emergency services, but that there were no significant injuries or damage reported. Miami’s Metrorail trains briefly stopped running, and the county emergency department said that some buildings had been evacuated “out of an abundance of caution.”
Jochen Braunmiller, an assistant professor at the University of South Florida who studies earthquakes, said he did not initially believe reports of the earthquake because they are relatively rare in the region, and he did not feel it.
“It’s very unfortunate,” he said. “I mean, I’m a seismologist, but I’m not very sensitive to shaking, it seems.”
But nearby colleagues did, he said. “People in our building in Tampa — 400, 300 miles or so away from the epicenter — felt it,” he said.
The earthquake was among the strongest recorded in the Gulf of Mexico in the last 100 years, according to U.S.G.S. records. Unlike California, where earthquakes occur often because of fault lines between tectonic plates, earthquakes aren’t as common in the Gulf of Mexico because it is inside the tectonic plate, Mr. Braunmiller said.
As seismologists review available data, they may revise the earthquake’s reported magnitude. Additional information collected about the earthquake may also prompt U.S.G.S. scientists to update the shake-severity map.
Sources: United States Geological Survey (epicenter, aftershocks, shake intensity); LandScan via Oak Ridge National Laboratory (population density) | Notes: Shaking categories are based on the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale. When aftershock data is available, the corresponding maps and charts include earthquakes within 100 miles and seven days of the initial quake. All times above are Eastern. Shake data is as of Monday, June 8 at 2:13 p.m. Eastern. Aftershocks data is as of Monday, June 8 at 6:59 p.m. Eastern.
