Powerful magnitude 7.7 earthquake rocks Caribbean

HAVANA: A powerful magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck in the sea south of Cuba, triggering warnings of hazardous tsunami waves up to 3 feet high for Cuba, Jamaica, and west to Mexico and Central America.

The quake was also jolted the several areas across Cuba, the government said. However, there were no initial reports of major damage and causalities.

The disaster management agency for the Cayman Islands government said the the epicenter of the quake was between Jamaica, the Cayman Islands and Cuba, at a shallow depth of 6.2 miles (10 km).

The International Tsunami Information Center report said  tsunami waves reaching 0.3 (1 foot) to 1 meter (3 feet) above the tide level were possible for coastal parts of Belize, Cuba, Honduras, Mexico, the Cayman Islands and Jamaica, it said.

The disaster management agency for the Cayman Islands government on Twitter urged people to move away from coastal areas and said that those in low-lying areas should evacuate vertically in strong multi-story buildings.