#Hawaii earthquake

There is no tsunami expected after a preliminary magnitude 4.0 earthquake reported at 9:38 a.m. on Tuesday, May 20, 2025 off the Kaʻū Coast of the Big Island. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued an information statement saying there is no tsunami expected, however some areas may have experienced shaking.

A magnitude-4.4 earthquake was reported at 5:25 p.m. on Friday, March 14, occurring 34 miles west of Hawaiian Ocean View Estates on the Island of Hawaiʻi at a depth of 22 miles below sea level. This earthquake was a common type related to readjustments of the ocean crust due to the weight of Hawaiʻi Island, […]

When an earthquake strikes in Hawaiʻi, there are three agencies that analyze the earthquake for its location and magnitude. Typically, the earliest earthquake information will be from automated solutions generated by computer algorithms from PTWC and HVO. Human analysts from HVO and NEIC will then review the magnitude-2.5 or larger earthquakes to get a more accurate magnitude and location.

A magnitude-3.5 earthquake occurred beneath the Kaiwi channel, between Oʻahu and Molokaʻi at 1:53 p.m. HST on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. The Hawaiian Volcanoes Observatory issued an information statement saying the quake was centered 14 miles west-northwest of the village of Maunaloa on the Island of Molokaʻi at a depth of 5 miles below sea level. The earthquake had no apparent impact on either Maunaloa or Kīlauea volcanoes on the Island of Hawaiʻi.   

A 4.8 magnitude earthquake reported overnight on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi, was part of an ongoing swarm of deep seismicity that has been occurring beneath the Pāhala area since 2019, according to scientists with the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

The HVO issued as status update saying there have been over 70 earthquakes so far in this swarm, with 32 events greater than magnitude 2 and two events greater than magnitude 4. The largest earthquake has been a magnitude-4.3 event that occurred Saturday at 12:05 p.m. HST, at a depth of 5.8 km (3.6 mi) below sea level and 4.8 km (3.0 mi) below the volcano’s summit.

Earthquake activity has increased in Kīlauea’s middle East Rift Zone, near Makaopuhi Crater. Ground deformation patterns west (uprift) of Puʻuʻōʻō suggest that another intrusive event could be occurring in this region, but scientists with the Hawaiʻi Volcano Observatory say Kīlauea is not erupting at this time.

A preliminary magnitude 4.7 earthquake was reported at 12:52 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024 about 9 miles south of Fern Forest on the South Flank of the Kīlauea Volcano on Hawaiʻi Island. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a statement saying there was no tsunami expected, however some areas may have experienced shaking.

Earthquake and ground deformation rates in Kīlauea’s upper East Rift Zone decreased significantly following a “burst of intense activity” at approximately 3:30 a.m. HST on July 23, 2024. Accordingly, the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory has lowered the Volcano Alert Level for ground-based hazards from WATCH to ADVISORY and the Aviation Color Code from ORANGE to YELLOW.     

Island of Hawaiʻi residents are used to feeling the ground shake beneath them. From subtle shakes that feel like wind, to abrupt jolting that knocks dishes off the counter, living on this volcanically active island means accepting that the ground beneath our feet will not always keep still. 

A swarm of earthquakes that began June 27 at the upper East Rift Zone of Kīlauea volcano — just southeast of the summit region — abated on Monday, according to a Hawaiian Volcano Observatory daily status report given at 7:35 a.m. Tuesday morning.

Kīlauea began erupting from fissures southwest of Kaluapele (the summit caldera) just after midnight on June 3; the eruption ceased just nine hours later, though lava flows continued to slowly spread for several more hours. Prior to the brief eruption, the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) had been monitoring pulses of heightened seismic activity in the summit area for weeks.

There is no tsunami expected following a 4.1 magnitude (preliminary 4.2) earthquake reported at 9:15 p.m. on Sunday, June 2, 2024 in the summit region of the Kīlauea Volcano.

Thousands of rocks were tossed high in the air, littering the caldera floor. Intense electrical storms accompanied some of the explosions, and lightning took out powerlines far down the road to Hilo.

There is no tsunami expected after a 5.7 magnitude (preliminary 6.3) earthquake reported at 10:07 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 9, 2024 off the Kaʻū Coast of the Big Island. There were more than 280 “felt reports” within the first hour.

The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory issued an information statement on Friday evening reporting elevated unrest and increased seismicity to the south of Kīlauea’s summit. The HVO reports that Kīlauea is not erupting, but that the increased unrest started at around 1:10 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 29, 2023, and is continuing.

There is no tsunami threat to Hawaiʻi following a (preliminary 4.3) 4.4 magnitude earthquake reported at 3:17 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 28, 2023 off the Kaʻū coast of the Big Island.

There was no tsunami generated by a 4.1 magnitude earthquake reported at 4:27 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 23, 2023 about 8 miles southwest of Volcano on Hawaiʻi Island at a depth of 17 miles below sea level.

Two 3+ magnitude earthquakes on Hawaiʻi island that occurred within a minute of each other on Friday night are not likely related to one another, according to scientists with the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

There is no tsunami following a 4.4 (4.2 preliminary) magnitude earthquake reported at 5:17 p.m. in the Summit Region of the Kīlauea Volcano on Hawaiʻi Island.