| March 20, 2010 4:00 p.m. EDT Havana, Cuba (CNN) -- A 5.6-magnitude earthquake shook Cuba on Saturday. The quake struck at 1:08 p.m. (2:08 p.m. ET) 22 kilometers (14 miles) below the surface and was centered 44 km (27 miles) south-southwest of Guantanamo, the U.S. Geological Survey said. "So far, there haven't been any reports of major damages or injuries," a civil defense official in Havana told CNN nearly an hour after the quake. "It's still early." There were no immediate reports of injuries or major damage in Santiago de Cuba, which is 57 km (36 miles) from the epicenter, but a woman who runs a bed and breakfast there felt it. "It was very strong," the woman said. "We ran and stood in the doorway. Neighbors were screaming and ran into the street. ... I haven't heard of any damages. Everybody is back inside." "I don't think there are any damages, at least around here," said Mabel Martinez, who runs another bed and breakfast in Santiago de Cuba. "But people are definitely alarmed." 33 mins ago HAVANA (Reuters) - A 5.6-magnitude earthquake struck near the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo in eastern Cuba, on Saturday and was felt in the island's second city of Santiago de Cuba. A spokesman at the Guantanamo base said no damage was reported there. In Santiago de Cuba, about 32 miles from the epicenter, residents said they felt the temblor. "It was awful, you could feel it pretty strongly. It lasted longer than normal. Our phones are only receiving calls," Ariadna, a 34-year-old Cuban in the eastern city, told Reuters. The quake was centered 27 miles southwest of Guantanamo and had a depth of 14 miles, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. A magnitude-5 quake can cause considerable damage, but Chief Petty Officer Bill Mesta, a spokesman at the U.S. Guantanamo base, said there was none reported. There was no tsunami warning issued for the region. The U.S. base in southeastern Cuba was used to transport supplies and personnel to the aid effort after the devastating 7.0-magnitude January 12 quake in Haiti, about 200 miles away. A prison on the base, set up for terrorism suspects after the September 11, 2001, attacks, still houses 188 detainees. President Barack Obama pledged in January 2009 to close the controversial prison within a year, but his efforts to shutter the facility have been hampered by legal and political hurdles. (Reporting by Esteban Israel in Havana, Matthew Bigg in Atlanta, Editing by Pascal Fletcher and Peter Cooney) |