Earthquake near Discovery Harbor, HI

No earthquake was likely felt in Discovery Harbor in the 24 hours to 1:25 am HST (11:25 UTC). The last one was M 2.6, 20 km (12 mi) NE, at 7:36 pm HST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Discovery Harbor

This page: a magnitude 2.8 earthquake was recorded 14 km (9 mi) east of Discovery Harbor, HI, at 6:42 am HST on 16 May 2021 (16:42 UTC), less than 1 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS. The magnitude and location are an automatic first estimate and may change.

USGS: 8 km E of Naalehu, Hawaii

6:42 am HST, May 16, 2021 · 2021-05-16 16:42 UTC · -1.2 km deep · released about 460 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Discovery Harbor 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: 6:42 am HST on 16 May 2021 (2021-05-16 16:42 UTC)
Where: 14 km (9 mi) east of Discovery Harbor, HI · earthquakes near Discovery Harbor
Hawaii today: every earthquake in Hawaii in the last 24 hours
Magnitude: M 2.8 (ml)
Depth: -1.2 km below the surface
Felt: 1 report · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest: Hawaii County, 60 km N
Nearest mapped fault: Ka'oiki-Honu'apo fault system, 7 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 2009 days ago · we first saw it 2009 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 27 km (17 mi) from the epicentre. In Discovery Harbor, 14 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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.

Likely felt in: Discovery Harbor 14 km, intensity III · Pāhala 16 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 460 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 33,000× the energy of this one
Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 23,000× the energy of this one
Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2.1× the energy of this one
This earthquake M 2.8 about 460 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 13,000 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 NNE of this epicentre Mar 28, 1915
6.2 8 km SW of Volcano, Hawaii · 43 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 S 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

Map loads when it scrolls into view

Nearby places

Place	Distance	Direction from the epicentre
Hawaii County, HI	60 km (37 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.

1.8 8 km ENE of P?hala, Hawaii 16:34 UTC
2.2 3 km E of P?hala, Hawaii 14:55 UTC
1.8 3 km E of P?hala, Hawaii 14:38 UTC
2.4 4 km ENE of P?hala, Hawaii 13:55 UTC
2.0 8 km NE of P?hala, Hawaii 13:34 UTC
3.2 4 km WNW of P?hala, Hawaii 13:18 UTC
1.7 3 km S of P?hala, Hawaii 10:50 UTC
2.3 9 km ENE of P?hala, Hawaii 09:31 UTC
1.6 24 km N of P?hala, Hawaii 06:47 UTC
1.8 6 km E of P?hala, Hawaii 05:02 UTC
2.0 6 km E of P?hala, Hawaii 23:30 UTC
1.8 4 km SSE of P?hala, Hawaii 23:06 UTC
2.2 4 km E of P?hala, Hawaii 22:45 UTC
1.8 17 km N of P?hala, Hawaii 21:47 UTC
1.8 4 km SSW of P?hala, Hawaii 21:15 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 11:25 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.