Florida’s Atlantic coast experienced a rare earthquake overnight, measuing a seafloor-shaking 4.0 magnitude, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The quake occurred at 10:48 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 7, and was centered 100 miles off Cape Canaveral, officials said. Cape Canaveral is about 215 miles north of Miami.
As of 11 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 8, more than 80 witness reports had been filed from people who said they felt weak shaking in places like Melbourne, Rockledge, Palm Bay and Satellite Beach.
Earthquakes typically aren’t felt until they exceed 2.5 magnitude, experts say. That’s also the point at which minor damage can start to occur.
The source of the earthquake was just over 6 miles below the ocean floor, experts say.
A search of USGS records dating to 1900 shows the region of ocean where the quake occurred has had only one other earthquake: A 3.3 magnitude quake on June 11, 2001, centered 86 miles off St. Augustine Beach.
A 7.7 earthquake in the Caribbean Sea off Jamaica in 2020 was widely felt across the Florida peninsula and prompted evacuations from high-rise buildings in Miami.
However, eight additional incidents of seafloor shaking have been recorded since 2000 — all attributed to “experimental explosions” centered on the seafloor rather than below it, the USGS says.
Those explosions registered between 3.7 and 3.9 magnitude, the USGS says.
USGS officials have not reported the 4.0 quake off Cape Canaveral was linked to any experiments.
The region is not known for hosting tectonic plate boundaries, which are prone to having quakes.