QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7md

Earthquake near Honoka‘a, HI

No earthquake was likely felt in Honoka‘a in the 24 hours to 12:29 am HST (10:29 UTC). The last one was M 3.1, 15 km (10 mi) SSE, at 12:30 pm HST on 6 October 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 3 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Honoka‘a

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 6 km (4 mi) south of Honoka‘a, HI, at 4:55 pm HST on 31 August 2021 (02:55 UTC), 11 km deep.

USGS: 6 km S of Honoka‘a, Hawaii

54 km (34 mi) NW of Hilo, HI

4:55 pm HST, Aug 31, 2021 · · 11 km deep · released about 11 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Honoka‘a 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
4:55 pm HST on 31 August 2021 ()
Where
6 km (4 mi) south of Honoka‘a, HI · earthquakes near Honoka‘a
Hawaii today
every earthquake in Hawaii in the last 24 hours
Magnitude
M 1.7 (md)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Hawaii County, 47 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1900 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 7 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Honoka‘a, 6 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.

Likely felt in: Honoka‘a 6 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 11 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,300,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 930,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 83× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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 5.3 on 2019-04-14 — about 270,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.2 3 km WSW of Honomu, Hawaii · 37 km ESE 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 20.0217, -155.4605. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Hawaii County, HI 47 km (29 mi) S earthquakes near Hawaii County
Maui County, HI 151 km (94 mi) NW earthquakes near Maui County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.2 15 km WSW of Hilo, Hawaii
  2. 2.1 17 km SE of Waimea, Hawaii
  3. 2.8 14 km SE of Waimea, Hawaii
  4. 1.9 21 km ENE of Hala‘ula, Hawaii
  5. 2.1 5 km SW of Waikoloa, Hawaii
  6. 2.0 1 km SE of Hala‘ula, Hawaii
  7. 2.5 24 km ENE of H?lualoa, Hawaii
  8. 2.6 33 km SW of Laup?hoehoe, Hawaii
  9. 2.2 10 km S of Kukuihaele, Hawaii
  10. 1.8 4 km S of Honoka‘a, Hawaii
  11. 1.6 13 km NE of Kalaoa, Hawaii
  12. 1.9 20 km SW of Laup?hoehoe, Hawaii
  13. 1.7 11 km SW of Pa‘auilo, Hawaii
  14. 2.1 13 km SSW of Honoka‘a, Hawaii
  15. 2.1 17 km SW of Pa‘auilo, 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.