THE CUBA REVIEW 



13 



THE FEBRUARY EARTHQUAKE IN CUBA 



EARTH TREMORS ON FEBRUARY 27tH AND 28tH RECORDED IN FOUR 

 PROVINCES LITTLE DAMAGE NOTED 



At Banes at 12:10 at night a strong oscil- 

 lation of the earth was experienced lasting 

 about eight seconds which was repeated 

 slightly at 1 :29. No damage was reported. 



At Alto Songo, a station on the line of 

 the Guantanamo & Western Railroad, and 

 at Preston on Nipe Bay slight shocks oc- 

 curred. 



At Gibara on the north coast the shocks 

 seem to have been very severe. They were 

 recorded at midnight and at three in the 

 morning and are described as being very 

 strong and of long duration. The custom 

 house building was badly damaged, so 

 much so, that other quarters had to be se- 

 cured. The walls cracked and the floors 

 caved in. 



In Puerto Padre, likewise, on the north 

 coast in the early morning of February 

 28th strong tremblings were noticed. The 

 first shock occurred at midnight and was 

 of great intensity. Houses built of mam- 

 posteria were slightly damaged. Towns in 

 the neighborhood also report earth tremors 

 but no damage. 



At Camaguey tremors were recorded at 

 12 :50. The duration was four seconds and 

 the movement from east to west. 



Holguin recorded three strong shocks, 

 one at midnight, at 12 :4.5 and at 2 :00. 



The first shock was 4 seconds and was 

 preceded by great subterranean rumblings 

 and intense cold. In the vicinity of the 

 city earth tremblings continued up to March 

 5th. 



Chaparra recorded shocks so violent that 



the people became panic stricken, and al^an- 

 doned their dwellings, remaining some time 

 in the streets before returning to their 

 homes. 



In one cafe much damage was done to 

 the stock of liquors. Old residents say 

 that they did not remember an earthquake 

 in that section of equal intensity. 



Antilla, Bayamo and other towns reported 

 shocks. 



Isabela de Sagua in Santa Clara Prov- 

 ince records a three-second strong shock. 

 The population was panic stricken. 



In }vlayari a shock was recorded lasting 

 nearly two minutes, and at intervals within 

 an hour other tremors were noticed, but 

 slight compared with the first. 



At Ciego de Avila between 11:30 and 

 12:00 at night the shocks caused conster- 

 nation as earthquake tremors have never 

 been experienced before in this section. 



At Nuevitas and Lugareno the tremors 

 were strong and caused a panic, people 

 abandoning their houses. 



Houses were badly injured at Luyano, a 

 short distance from Havana, on the 27th at 

 1 :.'^0 at night. Shocks of medium intensity 

 were felt. 



Shocks were recorded in nearly all the 

 towns throughout Oriente Province, as 

 shown by the telegrams received by the 

 Secretary of Government in Havana. 



The south coast seems to have escaped 

 entirely as there is no record from any of 

 the cities nor is there any record shocks 

 from Matanzas Province. 



CUBA A MO\IE PARADISE 



After three weeks in Cuba during Feb- 

 ruary, where he went with a large company 

 of motion picture players. !Mr. Daniel Froh- 

 man, managing director of the Famous 

 Players Film Company, returned enthusias- 

 tic over the camera invasion. 



Mr. Frohman said the work of the com- 

 pany in Cuba was the source of much won- 

 derment and curiosit}' to the natives, who 

 som.ehow could not become reconciled to 

 seeing three or four large automobiles filled 

 with actors in various costumes racing 

 over the roads, stopping only long enough 

 for a few scenes to be taken before the 

 camera. 



"We managed to cover nearly all the 

 interesting places in the islands." said _Mr. 

 Frohman. '"Permission had been obtained 

 for the free run of old Morro Castle, and 



the picturesque place figured in many 

 scenes. Besides the principals of the com- 

 pany, which we took from New York, we 

 engaged forty or fifty natives for 'supers.' " 

 Scribner's for January describes the invasion. 



CUBA UP-TO-DATE 



One of Cuba's new postage stamps 

 shows an aeroplane flying over Havana. 

 This moves the Boston Transcript to say 

 that the j'oung nation is up-to-date and 

 makes a bold grasp at the future, for aero- 

 plane is as decidedly an advance over the 

 express locomotive as the latter is over the 

 post rider. 



The locomotive was honored in at least 

 one issue of United States stamps, but it 

 is reserved for Cuba to indulge in postal 

 prophecy. 



