Earthquake off Cuba’s coast felt across Florida

Earthquake off Cuba’s coast felt across Florida

FROM WESH TWO. THIS IS BREAKING NEWS. GOOD AFTERNOON. I’M SANIKA DANGE. WE’RE INTERRUPTING PROGRAMING RIGHT NOW TO BRING YOU SOME BREAKING NEWS. YOU MAY HAVE FELT YOURSELF AT HOME. WE HAVE RECEIVED SO MANY CALLS INTO OUR NEWSROOM OF SHAKING OR BOOMS ACROSS CENTRAL FLORIDA. WE HAVE JUST LEARNED THAT THERE WAS A MAJOR EARTHQUAKE OFF THE COAST OF CUBA. THIS IS INFORMATION WE ARE GETTING IN MINUTE BY MINUTE. BUT LET’S GET YOU RIGHT OVER TO FIRST WARNING METEOROLOGIST CAM TRAN. WITH WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR. CAM. THAT’S RIGHT. IT WAS A 6.1 MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE ABOUT 62 MILES OFF THE WESTERN COAST OF CUBA. SO 6.1 ON THAT SCALE ON THE MOMENT MAGNITUDE SCALE IS CONSIDERED PRETTY STRONG. AGAIN, THIS IS ABOUT 62 MILES WEST OF CUBA, OFF THE WESTERN TIP OF CUBA, INDICATED BY THE RED THERE. AND IT HAPPENED JUST AFTER 2:00 LOCAL TIME HERE. NOW, THE DEATH OF THIS EARTHQUAKE WAS RIGHT AROUND SIX MILES BELOW THE SURFACE. SO THAT’S CONSIDERED A SHALLOW EARTHQUAKE. AND WE DON’T KNOW EXACTLY WHAT CAUSED THIS EARTHQUAKE. BUT I DO KNOW THAT CUBA IS RIGHT ON THE CARIBBEAN PLATE, AND IT ABUTS UP NEXT TO THE NORTH AMERICAN PLATE. SO MAYBE THERE WAS A SHIFT THERE. TECTONIC SHIFT AGAIN, WE DON’T KNOW THE EXACT CAUSE OF THIS EARTHQUAKE, BUT WE DO KNOW, AGAIN, IT WAS A 6.1 MAGNITUDE, WHICH IS AGAIN, CONSIDERED STRONG. AND WITHIN FOLKS WITHIN A 60 MILE RADIUS FROM THIS EARTHQUAKE COULD LIKELY FEEL THE SHAKING FROM THIS BECAUSE OF HOW STRONG IT IS. BUT AGAIN, WE’VE GOT LOTS OF REPORTS EVEN HERE, LOCALLY HERE IN CENTRAL FLORIDA, FOLKS FEELING SOME TYPE OF SHAKING. AGAIN, WE DON’T KNOW IF IT’S SPECIFICALLY FROM THIS EARTHQUAKE, BUT I CAN TELL YOU AGAIN, WE DO HAVE THIS 6.1 MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE ABOUT 62 MILES OFF THE COAST OF CUBA. THERE RATHER STRONG ONE. AND WE’RE GETTING REPORTS OF PEOPLE FEELING SOME TYPE OF SHAKING THIS AFTERNOON. BACK TO YOU, SANIKA. YEAH, WE ABSOLUTELY ARE. CAM. AND EVEN AS WE LEARN MORE INFORMATION, WE’RE STILL MONITORING THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MIAMI, WHO JUST PUT OUT JUST A COUPLE OF MINUTES AGO HERE ON X, NO TSUNAMI, NO DANGER FROM A RECENT EARTHQUAKE. AGAIN, THIS IS RAPIDLY DEVELOPING AS WE LEARN MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS QUAKE. WE WERE FIRST TOLD ABOUT THE SHAKING FROM OUR OWN NEWSROOM FOLKS WHO FELT IT THEMSELVES, AS WELL AS SO MANY CALLERS. ONE OF THEM IS HEIDI, WHO’S JOINING US ON THE PHONE RIGHT NOW. HEIDI WORKS IN BALDWIN PARK. HEIDI, CAN YOU HEAR ME? YES, I CAN HEAR YOU. HEIDI. TAKE ME BACK TO AROUND 2 P.M. TODAY. YOU SAID YOU FELT SOME SHAKING OF SOME SORT. WHAT HAPPENED HERE? YEAH, I WAS WORKING, AND I FELT OR ACTUALLY FIRST HEARD A POP, AND I JUST THOUGHT IT WAS THE BUILDING SETTLING. BUT THEN IT WAS DEFINITELY SOME SWAYING AND ALMOST LIKE MY CHAIR WAS MOVING AND THE LENS CLEANER ON MY DESK, I COULD SEE THE LIQUID SLOSHING BACK AND FORTH AND IT WAS OVER RATHER QUICKLY. AND I STOOD UP AND WENT OUT INTO THE OFFICE AND THERE WERE SEVERAL PEOPLE STANDING UP SAYING, WHOA, DID YOU FEEL THAT? AND SOMEONE CALLED THEIR FAMILY DOWN IN NAPLES, AND THEY REPORTED THEY HAD FELT IT AS WELL. AND A CO-WORKER’S HUSBAND THAT THEY LIVE A COUPLE BLOCKS AWAY. HE ALSO HAD FELT IT AT HIS HOUSE. YEAH. HOW LONG DID YOU FEEL THAT SHAKING? I WAS PROBABLY THREE SECONDS. YOU KNOW, IN THE MOMENT IT FEELS LONGER THAN IT ACTUALLY IS. IT WAS KIND OF OVER. AS SOON AS I REALIZED WHAT WAS HAPPENING. BUT PROBABLY THREE SECONDS. YEAH. NO, CERTAINLY. I FEEL LIKE WHEN YOU’RE IN THE MOMENT FEELS LIKE A LOT LONGER. WE HAD SO MANY PEOPLE HERE IN OUR BUILDING FEEL IT AS WELL. IT FELT LIKE THE HIGHER FLOOR YOU WERE ON, THE MORE YOU FELT THE SHAKING. WHEREABOUTS WERE YOU IN THIS OFFICE BUILDING? I’M ON THE SECOND FLOOR. SO. AND RIGHT BY THE WINDOWS. YEAH. DID YOU HEAR FROM YOUR COWORKERS WHO HAD FAMILIES DOWN FURTHER SOUTH HERE IN FLORIDA? WHAT DID THEY SAY? SIMILAR. AND IT WAS FUNNY. THEY SOME OF THE FOLKS IN THEIR HOUSE FELT IT AND SOME DIDN’T NOTICE ANYTHING. SO. BUT THE SAME KIND OF A THING THAT THEY JUST FELT SOME SWAYING AND IMMEDIATELY WONDERED IF IT WAS AN EARTHQUAKE. OFFICE BUILDING MUST HAVE BEEN IN A BIT OF A SHOCK AFTER THAT, AS YOU GUYS WERE SWAPPING YOUR OWN ANECDOTES ABOUT IT. YEAH, DEFINITELY. A LITTLE BIT STARTLING. WHAT WERE YOUR FIRST THOUGHTS WHEN YOU WERE GOING THROUGH THIS? WELL, FOR A MINUTE I WAS HOPING IT WAS GOING TO STOP. LIKE IT DIDN’T KICK IN. LIVING HERE, YOU DON’T THINK ABOUT HAVING EARTHQUAKES. I DIDN’T IMMEDIATELY THINK TO GO INTO AN ENTRYWAY OR LEAVE THE BUILDING OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT, BUT NOW I’M THINKING ABOUT THAT. IT WAS HAPPEN AGAIN. HOW I WOULD REACT DIFFERENTLY. YEAH, ABSOLUTELY. YOU MENTIONED, YOU KNOW, THERE WERE THERE WERE SOME SMALL SHAKES HERE AND THERE. IT DIDN’T SOUND LIKE THERE WAS ANY DAMAGE THAT YOU SAW, BUT WAS THERE ANYTHING REPORTED WITHIN YOUR OFFICE BUILDING? NO, NOTHING LIKE THAT. YEAH. NOTHING FELL DOWN. IT DIDN’T SEEM LIKE IT WAS THAT SIGNIFICANT. YEAH. WE SHOULD NOTE, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, THE 6.1 MAGNITUDE IS SIGNIFICANT. BUT IT HAPPENED OFF THE COAST OF CUBA. SO WHAT WE ARE FEELING IS SORT OF JUST, YOU KNOW, THE AFTERSHOCKS OF WHAT THE CUBANS MUST HAVE FELT DOWN THERE AS WELL. HEIDI, WHEN WHEN YOU WERE GOING THROUGH THIS, AS YOU’RE CLEANING UP AFTERWARDS, WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS WALKING AWAY FROM A SITUATION LIKE THIS? I MEAN, WHEN YOU MENTIONED YOURSELF, THIS IS NOT SOMETHING THAT FLORIDIANS ARE USED TO EXPERIENCING. YEAH, IT DEFINITELY I MEAN, JUST IRONICALLY, WE HAVE A BUSINESS CONTINUITY TABLETOP EXERCISE COMING UP AND WE WERE GOING TO USE HURRICANE AS THE SCENARIO, BUT NOW WE MIGHT CONSIDER SOMETHING LIKE THIS BEING SOMETHING THAT WE HAVE TO THINK ABOUT, I GUESS. YEAH, A LEARNING LESSON. LISTEN, GOOD NEWS IS EVERYBODY WAS SAFE. THANK YOU FOR CALLING IN AND LETTING US KNOW. HEIDI. WE ARE GLAD THAT EVERYONE IN THE BUILDING WAS SAFE AS WELL. THANKS FOR FOR JOINING US BRIEFLY WITH YOUR PERSPECTIVE. THANK YOU. LET’S GET YOU BACK OVER TO METEOROLOGIST CAM TRAN HERE. CAM. AGAIN, THIS IS A DEVELOPING SITUATION. WE ARE CONTINUING TO LEARN MORE AND MORE ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED HERE. SO WHAT ARE WE CONTINUING TO LEARN? WELL, WE’RE CONTINUING TO LEARN THAT THERE THANKFULLY HAVEN’T BEEN ANY TSUNAMI ALERTS OR WATCHES AFTER THIS EARTHQUAKE. SOMETIMES WHEN YOU HAVE A STRONG EARTHQUAKE LIKE THIS, THERE’S A TSUNAMI ADVISORY OR FOLKS ALONG TSUNAMI WAVES. AND THANKFULLY, THAT IS NOT THE CASE RIGHT NOW. AND ACROSS SOUTH FLORIDA, A NATIONAL SERVICE, NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MIAMI REPORTED THEY ARE NOT ISSUING ANY TSUNAMI ADVISORIES IN RESPONSE TO THIS EARTHQUAKE. SO JUST TO WRAP IT UP, IF YOU’RE JUST JOINING US, A PRETTY STRONG EARTHQUAKE JUST ABOUT 62 MILES WEST OFF THE COAST OF CUBA, 6.1 MAGNITUDE HAPPENED JUST AFTER 2:00 THIS AFTERNOON. AND JUST TO GIVE YOU SOME PERSPECTIVE, I WANT TO SHOW YOU OUR MAGNITUDE SCALE HERE. SO 6.1 RANKS IT RIGHT HERE. I’M GONNA STEP OFF TO THE SIDE HERE SO YOU CAN ACTUALLY SEE. SO THIS IS CONSIDERED A MODERATE TO STRONG EARTHQUAKE. A 6.1 MAY CAUSE MAJOR DAMAGE IN POPULATED AREAS. AGAIN THANKFULLY THE CENTER OF THE EARTHQUAKE ITSELF WAS JUST OFFSHORE. SO WAS IN THE CARIBBEAN. NOT NOT CLOSE, IMMEDIATE, CLOSE TO LAND THERE IN CUBA. SO THIS IS ACTUALLY A FAIRLY DECENT EARTHQUAKE. ON TOP OF THAT, WE ARE GETTING REPORTS IN TERMS OF THE DEPTH OF THE EARTHQUAKE ITSELF. THAT’S REALLY IMPORTANT. IT PLAYS A FACTOR IN HOW MUCH WE FEEL THE SHAKING DEPENDING ON THE HOW FAR OR HOW DEEP THAT EARTHQUAKE. THIS WAS A FAIRLY SHALLOW IT WAS ABOUT SIX MILES BELOW THE EARTH’S SURFACE, WHICH IS CONSIDERED A PRETTY SHALLOW. IT DOES SOUND LIKE SIX MILES IS DEEP, BUT IT’S ACTUALLY FAIRLY SHALLOW. AND FOLKS ABOUT 60 MILES RADIUS FROM WHERE THE CENTER OF THIS EARTHQUAKE HAPPENED WILL LIKELY HAVE FELT. IT DEFINITELY FELT THE SHAKING, AT LEAST SOME STRONG SHAKING. SO THIS WAS A FAIRLY SUBSTANTIAL EARTHQUAKE HERE AGAIN, ABOUT 62 MILES OFF THE COAST OF CUBA ON THE WESTERN COAST OF CUBA. BUT THE ACTUAL EPICENTER OF THE CENTER OF THE EARTHQUAKE WAS ACTUALLY MORE IN THE CARIBBEAN SEA. SO IT WASN’T REALLY RIGHT NEXT TO THE COASTLINE THERE IN CUBA. AND WE’VE GOTTEN NUMEROUS REPORTS, NOT ONLY HERE LOCALLY, BUT FOLKS IN SOUTH FLORIDA DEFINITELY FELT SOMETHING. THERE WERE LOTS OF REPORTS OF SHAKING THERE, ESPECIALLY IN AREAS LIKE MIAMI ALONG THE KEYS, SOUTH FLORIDA. SO WE’LL CONTINUE TO MONITOR THIS TOO. BUT FOR FOLKS WHO DON’T KNOW. WAS ACTUALLY ONE OF MY FAVORITE SUBJECTS. SO WE HAVE THE NORTH AMERICAN PLATE, WHICH IS WHAT WE’RE SITUATED ON OVER IN THE CARIBBEAN. WE ALSO HAVE WHAT’S CALLED THE CARIBBEAN PLATE, SO THAT MANY OF THE CARIBBEAN ISLANDS, INCLUDING CUBA, ARE SITUATED ON THAT PLATE. SO JUST THINK OF IT AS LITERALLY AS A JIGSAW PUZZLE. AND WHEN YOU PUT THE JIGSAW PUZZLE TOGETHER, SOMETIMES, YOU KNOW, IF YOU RUB AGAINST THAT CAN CAUSE EARTHQUAKES. SO ESSENTIALLY THAT’S WHAT’S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW IS WE AGAIN, WE DON’T KNOW EXACT CAUSE OF THIS EARTHQUAKE, BUT WE DO HAVE CUBA ON ONE PLATE HERE. SO ONE PLATE IN MY HAND. AND THEN WE HAVE THE NORTH AMERICAN PLATE BASICALLY BUTTING UP AGAINST IT. AND SOMETIMES WHEN YOU GET A LITTLE JUST A LITTLE BIT OF A SHIFT, THAT CAN CAUSE AN EARTHQUAKE. SO THAT MAY HAVE BEEN THE SITUATION HERE WHERE THE TWO TECTONIC PLATES THEMSELVES MAY HAVE SHIFTED. THEY’RE CALLED TRANSFORM PLATES. WHEN THEY’RE RIGHT NEXT TO EACH OTHER, THEY KIND OF SHIFT SIDE TO SIDE LIKE THAT. SO WATCHING AGAIN, SEE IF WE GET ANY MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE EXACT CAUSE OF THIS EARTHQUAKE. I CAN TELL YOU CUBA ITSELF IS LOCATED ON THE CARIBBEAN PLATE, NORTH AMERICA, JUST NORTH ON THE NORTH AMERICAN PLATE. AND OF COURSE, THOSE TWO PLATES SHIFT AT ALL. THAT CAN CAUSE EARTHQUAKES. THE LAST EARTHQUAKE IN CUBA, I BELIEVE, WAS IN 2004. IT WAS ALSO FAIRLY STRONG AT ABOUT A SIX, A LITTLE OVER SIX. BUT THIS ONE, I GOT TO SAY 6.1 IS FAIRLY STRONG AS WELL. AND AGAIN, I WANT TO SHOW YOU THE MAGNITUDE SCALE, WHERE IT STANDS. IT IS A 6.1. SO IT DOES FALL IN THE MODERATE TO STRONG CATEGORY. SO I’M SURE A LOT OF YOU MAY HAVE FELT IT. I KNOW SOME FOLKS IN OUR NEWSROOM WERE TALKING ABOUT IT. SOME FOLKS, ESPECIALLY ON THE SECOND F

A 6.1 magnitude earthquake hit just off the coast of Cuba on Monday, the USGS reports. The major earthquake happened about 62 miles west of Mantua, Cuba.Thousands of people across Florida are reporting shaking just after 2 p.m., including people at Disney World. It was a shallow earthquake at about 16 miles below the surface.There is no tsunami threat from this earthquake at this time. It was the strongest earthquake near Florida on record. Business haltsLake County said its government offices would be closed the rest of the day after the earthquake, “out of an abundance of caution.”Several rides at SeaWorld and other theme parks have closed temporarily. There are reports the Regions building in downtown Orlando was evacuated after the shaking. >> This is a developing story and will be updated as more information is released

ORLANDO, Fla. —

A 6.1 magnitude earthquake hit just off the coast of Cuba on Monday, the USGS reports.

The major earthquake happened about 62 miles west of Mantua, Cuba.

Thousands of people across Florida are reporting shaking just after 2 p.m., including people at Disney World.

It was a shallow earthquake at about 16 miles below the surface.

There is no tsunami threat from this earthquake at this time.

It was the strongest earthquake near Florida on record.

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Business halts

Lake County said its government offices would be closed the rest of the day after the earthquake, “out of an abundance of caution.”

Several rides at SeaWorld and other theme parks have closed temporarily.

There are reports the Regions building in downtown Orlando was evacuated after the shaking.

>> This is a developing story and will be updated as more information is released

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We have received multiple reports in the #FloridaKeys of ground shaking associated with a potential earthquake. The United States Geological Survey did indeed sample a 6.4 magnitude earthquake around 65 miles WNW of Mantua, Cuba. There is no tsunami threat from this earthquake.

— NWS Key West (@NWSKeyWest) June 8, 2026

WESH 2 News

Earthquake rocks cuba 

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Did you feel it? We have received multiple reports of some shaking/tremors as far north as the Jacksonville area. There is NO tsunami threat at area beaches from this earthquake. https://t.co/wOOGC44jWv

— NWS Jacksonville (@NWSJacksonville) June 8, 2026

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6/8: Ochopee’s seismograph picked up seismic activity from the earthquake that occurred just west of Cuba at 2PM.

You can see the up/down oscillations that occurred on the seismograph shortly after 2PM. Thanks for all of the reports! For more info, visit @USGS_Quakes. pic.twitter.com/fUYp7g0nl5

— NWS Miami (@NWSMiami) June 8, 2026