QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5md

Earthquake near Kailua-Kona, HI

No earthquake was likely felt in Kailua-Kona in the 24 hours to 4:28 pm HST (02:28 UTC). The last one was M 2.9, 14 km (9 mi) NNE, at 12:08 pm HST on 6 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 29 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Kailua-Kona

This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 39 km (24 mi) east-southeast of Kailua-Kona, HI, at 1:36 pm HST on 4 January 2023 (23:36 UTC), 5.0 km deep.

USGS: Island of Hawaii, Hawaii

1:36 pm HST, Jan 4, 2023 · · 5.0 km deep · released about 6.2 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Kailua-Kona Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Hawaii County 25 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
1:36 pm HST on 4 January 2023 ()
Where
39 km (24 mi) east-southeast of Kailua-Kona, HI · earthquakes near Kailua-Kona
Hawaii today
every earthquake in Hawaii in the last 24 hours
Magnitude
M 1.5 (md)
Depth
5.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Hawaii County, 25 km NE
Nearest mapped fault
Mauna Loa Volcano, 8 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 1380 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 Kailua-Kona, 39 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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: Honaunau-Napoopoo, Captain Cook, Kealakekua, Honalo.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 6.2 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 2,500,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,700,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 150× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 6.2 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 5.4 on 2018-06-01 — about 620,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 28 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.7 22 km W of Volcano, Hawaii · 25 km E of this epicentre
  2. 6.5 Hualālai area, Hawaii · 47 km NW of this epicentre
  3. 6.4 Kaoiki area, Hawaii · 30 km E of this epicentre
  4. 6.3 20 km SSW of Honaunau-Napoopoo, Hawaii · 32 km SW of this epicentre
  5. 6.2 8 km SW of Volcano, Hawaii · 41 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 19.4557, -155.6838. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Hawaii County, HI 25 km (15 mi) NE earthquakes near Hawaii County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 3 km SE of P?hala, Hawaii
  2. 2.3 6 km SSE of P?hala, Hawaii
  3. 1.9 5 km SSW of P?hala, Hawaii
  4. 1.7 3 km SSW of Volcano, Hawaii
  5. 2.5 8 km SE of Pāhala, Hawaii
  6. 1.7 9 km ENE of P?hala, Hawaii
  7. 1.9 14 km ESE of P?hala, Hawaii
  8. 2.1 25 km SSE of Waimea, Hawaii
  9. 2.0 5 km SSW of P?hala, Hawaii
  10. 1.8 1 km SSE of P?hala, Hawaii
  11. 2.7 4 km SSW of Pāhala, Hawaii
  12. 2.0 12 km E of Pāhala, Hawaii
  13. 2.0 10 km ENE of P?hala, Hawaii
  14. 1.9 13 km E of P?hala, Hawaii
  15. 1.8 Island of Hawaii, 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.