A 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck just off the coast of Cuba and was felt miles away in downtown West Palm Beach, with reports of shaking reaching as far north as Jacksonville.
WATCH BELOW: 'I'm a Florida boy, so this is a new one for me,' Jonathan Lisnoff tells WPTV's Joel Lopez
Caleb Bennett and Jonathan Lisnoff were working on the 15th floor of the Northbridge Center off Flagler Drive when the quake hit around 2:15 p.m.
"All of the sudden I started feeling like I was a little dizzy," Bennett said. "And all of the sudden the chains on the windows started slapping against the wall."
Bennett said he initially wasn't sure what was happening.
"I was like man something's wrong, is it windy outside, are we drilling, like we're next to a bunch of construction, is there something going on?" he said.
WATCH BELOW:
Lisnoff, a Florida native, said the experience was unlike anything he had felt before.
"There was an earthquake I couldn't believe it. How we felt it in West Palm Beach is kinda crazy," he said. "I'm a Florida boy, so this is a new one for me."
Paul Earl, a seismologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, said the shaking extended well beyond West Palm Beach.
6/8 @ 2:15pm: We've received several recent reports of shaking across Southwestern Florida within the past 30 minutes.
— NWS Miami (@NWSMiami) June 8, 2026
An earthquake has occurred just west of Cuba in the southern Gulf. @USGS_Quakes has since revised the magnitude down to a 6.1 at a depth of 10km. https://t.co/f1OyzUI6Sf pic.twitter.com/MAB4ptNk74
"Oh it was felt for quite a ways away, we have felt reports coming in from Jacksonville, Florida," he said.
Earl said the earthquake is historically significant for the region.
"This is the largest earthquake in that immediate area that we have on record," Earl said.
He said the quake did not occur on a plate boundary, where earthquakes typically originate, but rather on a fault within the plate due to built-up pressure. Earl said aftershocks are likely, though whether they will be felt is uncertain.
"It's likely that there will be aftershocks," Earl said. "Will those aftershocks be felt, it's hard to say."
The National Tsunami Warning Center said there is "no tsunami danger for the U.S. east coast, the Gulf of America states, or the eastern coast of Canada."
A 4.0 earthquake occurred off the coast of Florida, northeast of Vero Beach, in 2024, and was felt in Indian River County. A 7.7 earthquake was felt in Miami and across South Florida in 2020.
Read more of WPTV's related coverage below:
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South Florida reacts to 6.1 magnitude earthquake felt across the state
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Florida's earthquake history: When distant tremors are felt here
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