accidental explosion · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.5ml
Blue Origin New Glenn rocket explosion
No: USGS classifies this as a accidental explosion, not an earthquake. A magnitude 2.5 accidental explosion was recorded in Blue Origin New Glenn rocket explosion, 70 km (44 mi) E of Orlando, FL, at 9:00 pm EDT on 28 May 2026 (01:00 UTC), less than 1 km deep. 6 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
70 km (44 mi) E of Orlando, FL · 42 km (26 mi) NNE of Melbourne, FL
- When
- Magnitude
- M 2.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 0.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- 6 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- Brevard County, 25 km SW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 93 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Cape Canaveral, FL
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Cape Canaveral, FL. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 46 km (29 mi) from the epicentre. Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Cape Canaveral, Cocoa Beach, Merritt Island, Cocoa, Sharpes, Rockledge.
USGS catalogues this as accidental explosion, not an earthquake.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 170 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 89,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 63,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 5.6× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.5 about 170 lb of TNT
Energy from the Gutenberg–Richter relation (log10E = 1.5M + 4.8), rounded to two figures; bar length is magnitude, which is already a logarithm of energy. Magnitudes of past earthquakes from the USGS catalogue.
Where
Epicentre 28.4710, -80.5380. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brevard County, FL | 25 km (15 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Brevard County |
| Seminole County, FL | 63 km (39 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Seminole County |
| Osceola County, FL | 75 km (46 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Osceola County |
| Orange County, FL | 77 km (48 mi) | W | earthquakes near Orange County |
| Indian River County, FL | 86 km (53 mi) | S | earthquakes near Indian River County |
| Volusia County, FL | 89 km (55 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Volusia County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
No further earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of . QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.
On USGS
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.