Eastern Cuba rocked by magnitude 6.8 earthquake

A 6.8 magnitude earthquake has rocked eastern Cuba, according to the US Geological Survey, shaking buildings in Santiago de Cuba, the island's second largest city, and the surrounding countryside.

The quake struck Cuba's southeastern coast in Granma province near the municipality of Bartolome Maso, the home of former Cuban leader Fidel Castro's headquarters during the Cuban Revolution.

Reuters spoke with several residents in the area who reported the quake felt as strong as any in their lifetimes.

Homes and buildings shook violently, they said, and dishes rattled off shelves.

Some damage was reported in Pilon, near the quake's epicentre.

Many of the region's homes and buildings are older and vulnerable.

Residents in Santiago were left shaken on Sunday.

Yolanda Tabío, 76, said people in the city flocked to the streets and were still nervously sitting in their doorways.

She said she felt at least two aftershocks following the quake but that among friends and family she had not heard of any damages.

"You had to see how everything was moving, the walls, everything," she told the Associated Press.

The quake was at a depth of 14km, USGS said.

The earthquake was earlier measured at a magnitude of 5.8, a figure that has been revised upwards.

The US National Tsunami Warning Center said there was no tsunami threat expected as a result of this quake.

The quake is the most recent in a string of natural disasters to strike Cuba.

Much of the eastern end of the island was ravaged by Hurricane Oscar in October.

Last week, Cuba's grid collapsed after Hurricane Rafael hit the western end of the island, leaving 10 million people without power.

Recovery efforts are still underway.

Rolling blackouts remain the norm across much of eastern Cuba, where Sunday's earthquake struck, complicating communications.

Most seismic activity in Cuba takes place in the region around Santiago.

A fault line runs along the island's southeastern coast, marking the boundary between the North American plate and the Caribbean plate, according to Cuba's seismic service.

The Cuban capital of Havana was not affected by the quake.

with AP