Mexico hit with 6.5 magnitude earthquake. Is Florida in danger?

A 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck the southern Mexican state of Guerrero on Friday, January 2, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum was giving her first press conference of 2026 when sirens started blaring and video showed her calmly guiding the evacuation.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake struck at a depth of 21.75 miles, but Scheinbaum said there were no reports of serious damage.

“At 7:58 a.m., an earthquake of magnitude 6.5 occurred southwest of San Marcos, Guerrero state, and protocols and patrols have been activated in the area,” she told a room of reporters in Spanish. “So far, no reports of damage or deaths have been received. As of 9 a.m., only small aftershocks had been recorded, with a maximum magnitude of 4.2.”

On the other side of the bay we had hurricanes, but at least we could see they were coming. We are not used to earthquakes.

That’s why the magnitude 4.0 earthquake that rocked parts of Florida’s Space Coast nearly a year ago was so surprising.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the earthquake occurred about 100 miles east of Cape Canaveral at around 10:48 p.m. on February 8, with an epicenter about 6 miles shallow. Residents from Merritt Island to Palm Cove reported a shaking sensation.

Experts say earthquakes occur every day around the world. In January 2024, the U.S. Geological Survey released its latest National Seismic Hazard Model, which showed that nearly 75% of the United States, including parts of Florida, could be affected by damaging earthquakes.

So should Floridians be more concerned that the ground will start to move?

A: Probably not too much. But this has happened before.

Are earthquakes common in Florida?

Yes, but rarely. Florida tied with North Dakota as the state with the fewest earthquakes each year. The state was one of only four states to experience no earthquakes between 1975 and 1995. (The other three are Iowa, Wisconsin and North Dakota.)

Earthquakes are caused by sudden movements of tectonic plates, which release energy in the form of waves that travel through the Earth’s crust and cause shaking on the surface.

However, Florida does not lie near any plate boundaries. (Neither is New Jersey, although there are some minor fault lines in the area.) The fault lines closest to Florida run through the Caribbean, north of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, south of Cuba, and leading into Guatemala.

The state does get shakes, though, usually from earthquakes strong enough to affect us even if they’re not nearby. In September 2020, Santa Rosa residents were unsettled when a 3.8 magnitude earthquake struck along the Florida/Alabama line northwest of Mount Carmel. People in Jay, East Milton and even Navarre reported feeling shaking on the ground.

Shocking the Sunshine State: Is Florida, known for its storm threat, ever shaken by an earthquake?

How likely is it to have an earthquake in Florida?

Florida’s risk ratio isn’t high, but it’s not zero on the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Earthquake Hazard Model map.

In the 2025 update, based on a “massive collaborative effort” by more than 50 scientists and engineers and federal, state and local governments, much of Florida was found to have a 5 percent or lower chance of experiencing a damaging earthquake in the next 100 years.

But the agency said the Panhandle and areas of North Florida stretching from southwest Jacksonville to south of Cape Coral have a 5 to 25 percent chance.

Don’t take breakable items off the shelves just yet. The Sunshine State remains at the lower end of the threat spectrum. In the USGS’s detailed report, “Florida” is not mentioned once.

Shake the Coast: How many earthquakes have occurred on the Treasure Coast? more than one

What was the largest earthquake in Florida?

In 1879, the largest recorded earthquake in Florida was a magnitude 4.4, and its epicenter was probably located in the Palatka area on the border of Putnam and Marion counties in north-central Florida. Tremors were felt as far away as Tallahassee and Cedar Key.

According to USGS records, “stucco was shaken off and items were thrown from shelves in St. Augustine and south Daytona Beach.”

The largest earthquake is Influence In 2006, a 5.9-magnitude earthquake struck the Gulf of Mexico in Southwest Florida and reportedly shook some buildings in Cape Coral, but no serious damage was caused.

What other earthquakes have occurred in Florida?

Most earthquakes in our area are small earthquakes of magnitude 3 and below. “Magnitude” is the relative size of an earthquake, measured on the Richter scale – residents may notice slight shaking. Some famous earthquakes in Florida:

• January 1880: Two powerful earthquakes near Cuba hit Key West.

• August 1886: The famous earthquake in Charleston, South Carolina, which killed 60 people and damaged thousands of buildings, was felt across northern Florida, rang the bells of St. Augustine’s Church and shook towns along the East Coast.

• October 1900: On Halloween, Jacksonville residents were hit by a 3.5-magnitude earthquake and felt eight distinct tremors.

• November 1948: Captiva Island near Fort Myers was shaken, with residents reporting hearing explosions in the distance.

• November 1952: “On November 18, 1952, many people in Quincy, a small town about 20 miles northwest of Tallahassee, felt a mild shaking,” U.S. Geological Survey records state. “Doors and windows rattled, but no serious effects were noted. One source noted that ‘the shaking interfered with the writing of parking tickets.’ It was not said in what way.”

• October 1997: The earthquake, with a magnitude of 4.8, was felt in Pensacola, north-northwest of Flamaton, Alabama.

• March 2019: The U.S. Geological Survey reported a magnitude 2.6 earthquake in Santa Rosa County, just south of the Alabama border.

• September 3, 2020: A 3.8-magnitude earthquake was detected west-northwest of Jay, Florida.

• March 23, 2025: A magnitude 3.1 earthquake occurred in the newly renamed Gulf of America.

What does magnitude mean in earthquakes?

Magnitude is a measure of the intensity of an earthquake. The formal name is moment magnitude. It’s a logarithmic scale, meaning each number is 10 times stronger than the previous number. Therefore, an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.2 is a moderate earthquake, and an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.2 is a strong earthquake.

Source: Michigan Technological University.

Previously, people used the Richter scale to describe earthquakes, but this is no longer commonly used because it only works in certain circumstances.

Did the U.S. Navy cause an earthquake near Daytona Beach, Florida?

In July 2016, a magnitude 3.7 earthquake struck the Florida coast about 100 miles east-northeast of Daytona Beach.

But it was discovered that it was caused by a man-made explosion designed to test the seaworthiness of new U.S. Navy ships, so it doesn’t actually count. The Geological Survey reported a similar “earthquake” 156 nautical miles east-northeast of Ormond-by-the-Sea on June 10, the same day the Navy reported a shock test aboard the USS Jackson.

Writers: Samantha Neely, The News-Press of Fort Myers; Mary Walrath-Holdridge, Jenny Santucci, Zach Weicht, Kate Perez, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared in the Fort Myers News Service: 6.5-magnitude earthquake hits southern Mexico. Are earthquakes common in Florida?