QuakeIndex

Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change

M 2.1md

3 km SSE of Pāhala, HI

Yes. A magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 3 km SSE of Pāhala, HI, at 4:27 pm HST on 19 December 2019 (02:27 UTC), 36 km deep. The magnitude and location are an automatic first estimate and may change.

· 36 km deep · released about 37 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Hawaii County 47 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
Magnitude
M 2.1 (md)
Depth
36 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Hawaii County, 47 km N
Nearest mapped fault
Ka'oiki-Honu'apo fault system, 1 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
Status
Automatic — a machine’s first estimate, which may change

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2522 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. 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: Pāhala, Discovery Harbor.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 37 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 410,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 290,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 26× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 37 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 in our catalogue was M 5.7 on 2018-05-04 — about 320,000 times the energy of this one.

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 19.1798, -155.4633. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Hawaii County, HI 47 km (29 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.

  1. 2.8 22 km ENE of Honaunau-Napoopoo, Hawaii
  2. 2.0 3 km ENE of P?hala, Hawaii
  3. 2.3 3 km SE of P?hala, Hawaii
  4. 1.7 4 km WSW of Volcano, Hawaii
  5. 1.8 22 km ENE of Honaunau-Napoopoo, Hawaii
  6. 2.4 8 km ENE of P?hala, Hawaii
  7. 1.9 4 km WSW of Volcano, Hawaii
  8. 1.8 11 km E of P?hala, Hawaii
  9. 1.9 5 km SE of P?hala, Hawaii
  10. 3.2 21 km ENE of Honaunau-Napoopoo, Hawaii
  11. 1.7 6 km SW of Volcano, Hawaii
  12. 2.0 5 km SW of Volcano, Hawaii
  13. 2.1 6 km ENE of P?hala, Hawaii
  14. 1.9 14 km S of Fern Forest, Hawaii
  15. 2.1 2 km ENE of P?hala, 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.