A 6.1 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Cuba sent shockwaves hundreds of miles north into Florida, rattling England's World Cup training camp in West Palm Beach and forcing building evacuations in Orlando, the same city where the team is scheduled to face Costa Rica on Wednesday.
The quake, which the U.S. Geological Survey deemed the second-largest on record for the region, marks the first time a tremor of this scale has struck since a 6.0 hit near San Cristobal, Cuba, in 1880. That is not a typo. The last comparable earthquake predates the invention of the automobile.
For Thomas Tuchel and his England setup, which has been based in Florida since June 1, the seismic jolt adds one more disruption to a World Cup preparation already shadowed by a shooting near the squad's Kansas training base. The Daily Mail reported that the shockwaves from the Cuban offshore epicenter were felt across Florida, from Orlando, where tremors registered at Disney World and prompted evacuations, all the way north to Tallahassee.
Florida is not earthquake country. Residents know hurricanes, sinkholes, and the occasional alligator in the swimming pool. A seismic event strong enough to shake office buildings is something else entirely.
One user on X captured the disbelief plainly:
"I just felt an earthquake in Florida... what in the world"
Another Floridian described the moment in more visceral terms:
"Our office building shook and scared us. We thought it was a sinkhole."
Local reports recorded no damage or injuries in Florida. But the evacuations in Orlando, where England are set to play at Inter&Co Stadium, underscore how unusual the event was for a state whose emergency infrastructure is built around wind and water, not shifting tectonic plates.
The earthquake's effects were not confined to the United States. Popular Mexican holiday destinations, Cancun, Playa del Carmen, and Tulum, also felt the tremors. Governors of the Yucatan and Quintana Roo states activated emergency protocols in response.
Both governors reported no damage on social media, a welcome outcome given the tourist-heavy populations in those coastal areas. Still, the activation of emergency systems across two countries for a single seismic event speaks to the quake's reach and rarity.
The U.S. Geological Survey's classification of the earthquake as the second-largest on record for the region puts it in stark historical context. A gap of nearly 145 years between comparable events means there is essentially no living institutional memory of how to handle one.
The earthquake is the second security-adjacent disruption to England's World Cup preparations in the United States. Reports emerged on Monday that nine people were injured in a shooting close to England's Kansas training base. After Wednesday's match against Costa Rica in Orlando, the squad will fly back to Kansas City, where the team will be based for the duration of the tournament, training just four miles from the reported shooting site.
None of this is England's fault, of course. But the accumulation of incidents, a historic earthquake in a state that does not get them, a mass shooting near a training facility, and a thunderstorm forecast for match day in Orlando, paints a picture of a host country that has tested the visiting squad's composure before a ball has even been kicked in competition.
Whether Tuchel's camp sustained any direct damage or disruption to facilities remains unclear. No injuries to players or staff have been reported.
For American readers, the earthquake is a useful reminder that seismic risk is not limited to California and Alaska. Florida sits far from any major fault line, yet a quake originating off Cuba's coast carried enough force to evacuate buildings in one of the state's largest cities. Emergency managers in the Southeast rarely drill for earthquakes. Events like this one suggest they should.
The broader question, whether Florida's building codes, emergency response plans, and public awareness are calibrated for seismic events, is one that state and local officials would do well to consider before the next 145-year gap closes a little sooner than expected.
When even Disney World shakes, it is probably time to update the playbook.
