4.2 Hawaiʻi Island earthquake part of seismic swarm under the Pāhala area

There was no tsunami threat from a 4.2 magnitude earthquake reported overnight in the Pāhala area of the Kīlauea Volcano on Hawaiʻi Island. The quake occurred at 2:04 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022, about 6 miles ENE of Pāhala, at a depth of 21 miles below sea level.

The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reports that the earthquake had no apparent impact on either Mauna Loa or Kīlauea volcanoes, and was part of a seismic swarm under the Pāhala area, which has been going on since 2019.

The HVO advises that aftershocks are possible in the coming days and weeks. Light shaking occurred with this particular quake, which had more than 40 felt reports recorded by the USGS ‘Did You Feel It?’ website within the first hour.

The quake comes just three days after another 4.0 quake reported on Sept. 5 in the same region.

The HVO reports that the most recent 4.0 or greater earthquakes in Hawaiʻi include the following:

• 2022 Sep. 5—Magnitude 4.0—7 miles ENE of Pāhala, Hawaiʻi Island
• 2022 Aug. 22—Magnitude 4.0— 6 miles E of Pāhala, Hawaiʻi Island
• 2022 July 27—Magnitude 4.6—27 miles ESE of Nāʻālehu, Hawaiʻi Island
• 2022 May 22—Magnitude 4.7—2 miles NW of Hōlualoa, Hawaiʻi Island  
• 2022 April 15—Magnitude 4.6—6 miles E of Pāhala, Hawaiʻi Island