Earthquake near Pāhala, HI

No earthquake was likely felt in Pāhala in the 24 hours to 1:42 pm HST (23:42 UTC). The last one was M 2.6, 6 km (4 mi) S, at 7:36 pm HST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Pāhala

No: USGS classifies this as a other event, not an earthquake. A magnitude 2.0 other event was recorded 16 km (10 mi) south of Pāhala, HI, at 12:24 am HST on 15 May 2019 (10:24 UTC), 44 km deep.

USGS: 11 km E of Naalehu, Hawaii

12:24 am HST, May 15, 2019 · 2019-05-15 10:24 UTC · 44 km deep · released about 31 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Pāhala Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area

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: 12:24 am HST on 15 May 2019 (2019-05-15 10:24 UTC)
Where: 16 km (10 mi) south of Pāhala, HI · earthquakes near Pāhala
Hawaii today: every earthquake in Hawaii in the last 24 hours
Magnitude: M 2.0 (md)
Depth: 44 km below the surface
Felt: no reports yet
Nearest: Hawaii County, 60 km N
Nearest mapped fault: Ka'oiki-Honu'apo fault system, 10 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS 2737 days ago · we first saw it 2737 days ago

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

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Pāhala, 16 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: Discovery Harbor.

USGS catalogues this as other event, not an earthquake.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 31 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 480,000× the energy of this one
Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 340,000× the energy of this one
Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 31× the energy of this one
This earthquake M 2.0 about 31 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 5.5 on 2019-03-13 — about 200,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 36 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

6.7 22 km W of Volcano, Hawaii · 41 km N of this epicentre Nov 16, 1983
6.4 Kaoiki area, Hawaii · 42 km N of this epicentre Mar 28, 1915
6.2 8 km SW of Volcano, Hawaii · 42 km NNE of this epicentre Nov 2, 1918
6.2 21 km N of Pahala, Hawaii · 38 km N of this epicentre Jun 28, 1962
6.1 11 km SE of Naalehu, Hawaii · 7 km SSW of this epicentre Sep 15, 1919

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

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Nearby places

Place	Distance	Direction from the epicentre
Hawaii County, HI	60 km (38 mi)	N	earthquakes near Hawaii County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

2.4 27 km E of Honaunau-Napoopoo, Hawaii 03:45 UTC
2.2 9 km ENE of P?hala, Hawaii 02:36 UTC
1.7 27 km E of Honaunau-Napoopoo, Hawaii 23:07 UTC
2.8 26 km E of Honaunau-Napoopoo, Hawaii 22:50 UTC
2.8 26 km E of Honaunau-Napoopoo, Hawaii 22:41 UTC
1.8 50 km ESE of Naalehu, Hawaii 14:15 UTC
2.4 9 km ENE of P?hala, Hawaii 05:32 UTC
2.3 21 km WNW of Volcano, Hawaii 04:13 UTC
2.0 3 km SSW of Volcano, Hawaii 03:23 UTC
3.0 11 km SSE of Volcano, Hawaii 02:15 UTC
2.7 9 km ENE of P?hala, Hawaii 00:38 UTC
1.9 5 km S of P?hala, Hawaii 18:34 UTC
1.8 7 km SW of Volcano, Hawaii 23:02 UTC
1.8 3 km WNW of P?hala, Hawaii 20:58 UTC
1.8 26 km E of Honaunau-Napoopoo, Hawaii 19:35 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 23:42 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.