QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5md

Earthquake near Volcano, HI

No earthquake was likely felt in Volcano in the 24 hours to 2:58 am HST (12:58 UTC). The last one was M 1.9, 6 km (4 mi) W, at 11:09 am HST on 11 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Volcano

This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 14 km (9 mi) south-southeast of Volcano, HI, at 12:59 am HST on 6 May 2018 (10:59 UTC), 5.4 km deep.

USGS: 13 km SSE of Volcano, Hawaii

43 km (27 mi) SSW of Hilo, HI

12:59 am HST, May 6, 2018 · · 5.4 km deep · released about 5.7 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Volcano Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Hawaii County 44 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
12:59 am HST on 6 May 2018 ()
Where
14 km (9 mi) south-southeast of Volcano, HI · earthquakes near Volcano
Hawaii today
every earthquake in Hawaii in the last 24 hours
Magnitude
M 1.5 (md)
Depth
5.4 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Hawaii County, 44 km NW
Nearest mapped fault
Hilina fault system, under 1 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1026 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Volcano, 14 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). 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: Fern Forest, Eden Roc, Fern Acres, Mountain View, Hawaiian Acres.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 5.7 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,600,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 170× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.7 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.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 6.9 on 2018-05-04 — about 120,000,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 46 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.7 17 km SSW of Leilani Estates, Hawaii · 21 km E of this epicentre
  2. 6.7 Island of Hawai`i, Hawaii · 19 km E of this epicentre
  3. 6.7 22 km W of Volcano, Hawaii · 28 km WNW of this epicentre
  4. 6.4 Kaoiki area, Hawaii · 24 km WNW of this epicentre
  5. 6.2 Kilauea South Flank, Hawaii · 19 km E of this epicentre

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 19.3210, -155.2027. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Hawaii County, HI 44 km (27 mi) NW earthquakes near Hawaii County

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. 2.4 34 km ESE of P?hala, Hawaii
  2. 2.2 11 km SSE of Eden Roc, Hawaii
  3. 1.8 8 km SSE of Fern Forest, Hawaii
  4. 2.4 Island of Hawaii, Hawaii
  5. 1.9 17 km E of P?hala, Hawaii
  6. 2.4 14 km SSE of Volcano, Hawaii
  7. 2.4 10 km E of Naalehu, Hawaii
  8. 2.2 9 km ESE of Naalehu, Hawaii
  9. 2.5 27 km E of Pāhala, Hawaii
  10. 2.0 5 km SSW of Volcano, Hawaii
  11. 2.3 6 km SW of Volcano, Hawaii
  12. 3.1 16 km SE of Fern Forest, Hawaii
  13. 2.5 14 km E of Pāhala, Hawaii
  14. 2.3 12 km SSW of Volcano, Hawaii
  15. 2.3 17 km SW of Leilani Estates, Hawaii

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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.