Days before the celebrated warboat, the USS Nimitz, began its Southern deployment in the region, a strong 5.8 magnitude earthquake struck off the eastern coast of Cuba. The earthquake compounded a major humanitarian crisis in the communist country, as it occurred just hours after a complete nationwide blackout plunged 10 million residents in total darkness due to a power grid collapse.
The tremor on March 17 was not registered as an announcement of the start of the voyage of the US war vessel from its Virginia base on March 23. It was read as one of the thousands of earthquakes which tend to occur in Latin America and the Caribbean annually.
However, on June 8, three days after the warboat exited the port of Kingston to return to Virginia, another earthquake rocked Cuba, this time on the western coastline.
The powerful 6.1-magnitude earthquake was historically significant, as it was the largest of its kind ever recorded in the Gulf of Mexico and the strongest to hit Cuba in nearly 150 years. The earthquake happened in an area that was not prone to experience tremors, and despite its distance from tectonic plate boundaries, it was distinctly felt across international borders as far away as Florida and Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula.
Since the start of 2026, thousands of earthquakes have been recorded across the Caribbean and Latin America as the regions sit on highly active tectonic boundaries. Despite all of this, earthquake data suggests something unusual was happening beneath the earth’s surface while the USS Nimitz was making its way across the region.
After the initial shaking of Cuba on March 17, there was no record of earthquakes in the region during the month of April, but the area experienced unprecedented, highly disruptive oceanic conditions, including a series of severe marine heatwaves and the subsequent announcement of the onset of El Nino, the unusual warming of sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean.
Tremors returned with fearsome frequency during the month of May. A powerful 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck the Lesser Antilles on May 16. The epicentre was located about 43 to 52 miles northeast of Antigua and Barbuda. Prolonged shaking and swaying buildings caused brief evacuations across a massive regional footprint, including Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Montserrat, St. Kitts & Nevis, and parts of Venezuela.
On May 25, a significant 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck northern Chile, marking one of the largest seismic ruptures in South America over the preceding year and a half. The shaking lasted for nearly a minute and cut electricity supplies to over 22,000 homes, ruptured a major water main, and caused minor rockfalls on local highways, though no fatalities were reported. Weak low-frequency waves from this massive event were reportedly felt as far away as São Paulo, Brazil.
On that same day, May 25, 2026, official U.S. Navy records and photo intelligence confirmed that the USS Nimitz was conducting distinguished visitor tours and flight operations at sea for the Trinidad and Tobago delegation. This is after it left Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on May 20.
On May 30, on the eastern coast of Barbados, another 6.0 magnitude marine earthquake was recorded by the UWI Seismic Research Centre at a depth of 53 kilometres. The epicentre was roughly 100 kilometres south of Bridgetown, Barbados, sending mild tremors through surrounding islands like St. Vincent and Tobago. By then, the warboat had just departed Trinidad and was making its way towards Jamaica.
Chile was rocked again on May 31. A strong and shallow 6.0 magnitude earthquake hit off the coast near Valparaíso. On the same day a 5.3 magnitude earthquake hit the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Chirilagua. The event shook parts of El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua.
Central American nations create a distinct geographical and cultural gradient, framing the Caribbean’s eastern shores while stretching to the Pacific-facing western slopes.
The uptick in seismic activity was a shared experience for Caribbean and Latin American nations as much as the USS Nimitz’ deployment was a shared regional fellowship for the sun-kissed nations.
Earthquakes have no set seasons and there is no clear evidence of a direct connection between the movement of the massive ship with the movement of the faultlines beneath the regional earth surface. However, comparative data from 2025 paint a curious picture.
Last year, between March and June, there were only three significant earthquakes in the region. The action began in the Eastern Caribbean on March 29, when a double-earthquake sequence rocked the Leeward Islands. A 4.5 magnitude quake struck near Saint Barthélemy, closely followed by a 4.4 magnitude quake near Saint Maarten. These tremors were widely felt across Anguilla, Saba, and St. Kitts and Nevis.
In April a 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck near the Esmeraldas province in Ecuador. It impacted thousands of individuals and caused structural damage to over 1,600 homes and public infrastructure.
On May 25, 2025, a massive 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck the southern region of Chile (near Puerto Williams), serving as the most powerful seismic event in the region for the spring.
Whether the faultlines in the region were bobbing and weaving by their own volition, by happenstance or mere coincidence, nations shook and shimmied as the big ship sailed through. Governments were rattled and populations discombobulated.
We are in a time of unusual occurrences. If a war boat, trailed by a curious cluster of quakes and unprecedented power outages, can cause sovereign states to shiver, only God knows what is going to happen when the divine judgement comes. It will not be pretty. We need to repent.