Earthquake near Leilani Estates, HI

This was a strong earthquake. Damage is likely near the epicentre and it is felt over a wide area.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 556 km (345 mi) from the epicentre. In Leilani Estates, 19 km away, the estimate is intensity VII (very strong). 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.

Likely felt in: Leilani Estates 19 km, intensity VII · Volcano 28 km, intensity VII · Mountain View 29 km, intensity VI · Hawaiian Paradise Park 31 km, intensity VI · Hilo 47 km, intensity VI. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 340 kilotons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 7.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

1. Tōhoku, Japan 2011 M 9.1 2,000× the energy of this one
2. San Francisco 1906 M 7.9 32× the energy of this one
3. Ridgecrest, California 2019 M 7.1 2× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 6.9 about 340 kilotons of TNT
5. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 this one released 2× more
6. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 this one released 45× more

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.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km (31 mi) since our catalogue begins in 2016. The previous largest was M 5.7 on 2018-05-04.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 37 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

1. 7.7 17 km SSW of Leilani Estates, Hawaii · 2 km N of this epicentre Nov 29, 1975
2. 6.7 Island of Hawai`i, Hawaii · 4 km NNW of this epicentre Sep 21, 1908
3. 6.7 22 km W of Volcano, Hawaii · 49 km WNW of this epicentre Nov 16, 1983
4. 6.4 Kaoiki area, Hawaii · 44 km WNW of this epicentre Mar 28, 1915
5. 6.2 Kilauea South Flank, Hawaii · 4 km NNW of this epicentre May 4, 1905

Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.

Where

Epicentre 19.3182, -154.9997. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

60 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

1. 2.2 9 km WSW of Volcano, Hawaii 00:13 UTC
2. 2.3 20 km S of Volcano, Hawaii 00:12 UTC
3. 1.8 15 km SSE of Volcano, Hawaii 00:10 UTC
4. 2.6 22 km S of Volcano, Hawaii 00:08 UTC
5. 1.9 8 km SW of Volcano, Hawaii 00:08 UTC
6. 1.9 7 km WSW of Volcano, Hawaii 00:06 UTC
7. 2.6 18 km S of Volcano, Hawaii 00:06 UTC
8. 2.0 7 km SW of Volcano, Hawaii 00:05 UTC
9. 2.7 20 km S of Volcano, Hawaii 00:04 UTC
10. 2.1 Island of Hawaii, Hawaii 00:03 UTC
11. 2.4 8 km SW of Volcano, Hawaii 00:02 UTC
12. 3.0 2 km SSW of Volcano, Hawaii 23:59 UTC
13. 2.4 9 km WSW of Volcano, Hawaii 23:59 UTC
14. 2.8 2 km S of Volcano, Hawaii 23:58 UTC
15. 3.3 16 km SSW of Leilani Estates, Hawaii 23:57 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 15:18 UTC. 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.