No tsunami expected after preliminary magnitude 5.1 earthquake at Loihi Seamount south of Hawaiʻi Island

There is no tsunami expected following a 5.1 earthquake reported beneath Kamaʻehuakanaloa (Loihi Seamount), 26 miles east-southeast offshore of Nāʻālehu on the Island of Hawaiʻi. The quake occurred at 5:49 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026 at a depth of 7 mi (11 km) below sea level.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center reports that some areas may have experienced strong shaking.

The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reports the magnitude-5.2 earthquake is part of an ongoing sequence of earthquakes associated with unrest of Kamaʻehuakanaloa (formerly Lōʻihi) Seamount that started on Sunday, Aug. 9. These earthquakes have no apparent impact on either Maunaloa or Kīlauea volcanoes, according to the HVO.

The USGS reports the location of the earthquake with respect to nearby cities is as follows:

• 28.0 miles ESE of Nāʻālehu, Hawaiʻi
• 53.3 miles SSW of Hawaiian Paradise Park, Hawaiʻi
• 60.8 miles S of Hilo, Hawaiʻi
• 74.4 miles SE of Kailua-Kona, Hawaiʻi
• 240.3 miles SE of Honolulu, Hawaiʻi

HVO background information: 

Intermittent earthquake activity has been recorded in the vicinity of Kama‘ehuakanaloa (Lō‘ihi) since as early as 1952. The most energetic earthquake sequence occurred in July-August 1996, which included more than 4,000 earthquakes, with nearly 300 events larger than M3.0 and 95 events in the M4.0 to 4.9 range, according to the HVO.

More recently, a swarm of 100 earthquakes occurred on May 11, 2020, with 18 events in the M3.0 to 3.9 range. There are no working monitoring instruments on Kama‘ehuakanaloa volcano, whose peak is about 1,000 m (3,280 ft) below sea level.

All real-time information about the volcano is derived from land-based seismometers on the Island of Hawai‘i.