Jamaica and Cuba suffered huge tremors as the earthquake struck in the Caribbean Sea. Online footage shows buildings in Miami swaying as some residents wrote on social media saying they have been evacuated from their homes. The quake struck at 2.36pm local time (9.37pm GMT), according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

Miami-Adde Police reported receiving phone calls of buildings shaking, and multiple buildings were being evacuated.

The earthquake was reported about 72 miles northwest of Lucea, Jamaica.

A tsunami warning was put in place.

The epicenter of the quake, initially reported as magnitude 7.3 before being upgraded, was between Jamaica, the Cayman Islands and Cuba, at a shallow depth of 6.2 miles (10 km).

The quake was not strongly felt in the Cuban capital of Havana or in Kingston, Jamaica, according to Reuters witnesses.

Meanwhile, Mikhail Campbell, a police media relations officer in the Cayman Islands, said he was not immediately aware of any reports of serious damage.

“Hazardous tsunami waves from this earthquake are possible within 300 km (186 miles) of the epicenter along the coasts of Jamaica, Cayman Islands and Cuba,” the International Tsunami Information Center 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.

“We heard the noise of everything moving around.”

O’Raine Thomas, from Jamaica, told The Independent: “I’m home napping and suddenly felt the house shaking for at least a minute.

“It felt so unreal that I actually thought I was dreaming.

“I took up my phone later and realised on social media that it was actually an earthquake.”