The Cuban comedian Ulises Toirac took advantage of the false earthquake alarm that caused panic in several provinces of Cuba to deliver a sharp critique of ETECSA, the state telecommunications company, which he accused of having an infrastructure riddled with vulnerabilities despite the millions in revenue gained from the rate increase in 2025.
The alarm sounded on Tuesday, shortly after 3:00 PM, on Android phones and tablets in Mayabeque, Granma, Holguín, Matanzas, Havana, Ciego de Ávila, Camagüey, Las Tunas, and Santiago de Cuba. Hundreds of people left their homes and workplaces to seek refuge in open spaces, fearing an imminent earthquake.
This Wednesday, on Facebook, Toirac described the incident not as a minor technical accident, but as a full-scale exposure of the company's shortcomings: “Do you know what happened to you yesterday? A real earthquake. Not a seismic one, but one that exposes you as a company from the underworld: a major breach that enabled the simultaneous and massive sending of a cheerful notification with an image.”
The actor believes that someone found a way to send a mass notification to thousands of Cubans without authorization, indicating a serious security vulnerability in the company's systems. In the comments on the post, he dismissed the idea that Google was responsible: "It wasn't Google. They have this habit of putting their darn logo on EVERYTHING. Don't play the fool; she knows it wasn’t him."
It also revisited a question that has been raised for over a year: ETECSA is raking in millions with its exorbitant prices and not reinvesting in its infrastructure.
"I don't know where you're putting the money that you've been flaunting since the price hike started. You've raised prices, pushed for dollarization aggressively, and rolled out 'promotions' as if they were nothing... Yet you haven't invested a single dollar into your infrastructure. The radio towers still have paper batteries and are covered in cobwebs, capacities remain the same, and the technology is more obsolete than ever..." he detailed.
The Prime Minister Manuel Marrero reported in July 2025 that ETECSA had raised over 24.8 million dollars in just 46 days following the rate hike - about 540,000 USD daily - a figure that Toirac has repeatedly cited to hold the company accountable.
The comedian concluded his post with a direct warning: "Stop worrying about funding trips, scholarships, and solar panels... and focus on your own business, because there's going to be no one left to pay for all that."
Hours after the event, the National Center for Seismological Research (CENAIS) confirmed that the alarm was false: "The earthquake alert that reached mobile devices in many areas of the country has no basis in any officially issued alert notice," stated Dr. Enrique Diego Arango Arias, head of the National Seismological Service.
The earthquake alert that interrupted numerous mobile phones in Cuba on Tuesday was not accompanied by any recorded tremors in the country.
As of now, it has not been determined what exactly triggered the activation of the notifications or why so many phones displayed an earthquake warning if the CENAIS network did not record any phenomenon.
So far, no definitive cause has been provided. The official outlet Cubadebate suggested that the functioning of the Android Earthquake Alert System might be a possible explanation.
Related videos:
Filed under: