QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.0ml

Earthquake near Waimea, HI

No earthquake was likely felt in Waimea in the 24 hours to 6:46 am HST (16:46 UTC). The last one was M 2.6, 15 km (9 mi) W, at 2:41 am HST on 10 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 3 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Waimea

This page: a magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 10 km (6 mi) east of Waimea, HI, at 11:02 pm HST on 17 December 2024 (09:02 UTC), 5.5 km deep.

USGS: 10 km E of Waimea, Hawaii

11:02 pm HST, Dec 17, 2024 · · 5.5 km deep · released about 33 lb of TNT

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
11:02 pm HST on 17 December 2024 ()
Where
10 km (6 mi) east of Waimea, HI · earthquakes near Waimea
Hawaii today
every earthquake in Hawaii in the last 24 hours
Magnitude
M 2.0 (ml)
Depth
5.5 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 697 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 15 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Waimea, 10 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: Waimea 10 km, intensity II · Honoka‘a 14 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 33 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 450,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 320,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 29× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.0 about 33 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 92,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.7 14 km SW of Puako, Hawaii · 40 km WSW of this epicentre
  2. 6.2 3 km WSW of Honomu, Hawaii · 48 km ESE of this epicentre
  3. 6.0 20 km SW of Hawi, Hawaii · 44 km WNW of this epicentre
  4. 5.0 17 km WSW of Puako, Hawaii · 44 km WSW 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 20.0127, -155.5770. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Hawaii County, HI 47 km (29 mi) S earthquakes near Hawaii County
Maui County, HI 142 km (88 mi) NW earthquakes near Maui County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 8 km SSW of Puako, Hawaii
  2. 1.5 32 km SE of Waikoloa, Hawaii
  3. 2.1 1 km NNE of Waikoloa, Hawaii
  4. 1.8 6 km ENE of Waimea, Hawaii
  5. 2.0 24 km SE of Waimea, Hawaii
  6. 2.6 10 km SE of Waikoloa, Hawaii
  7. 2.6 14 km SW of Puako, Hawaii
  8. 2.8 20 km S of Pa‘auilo, Hawaii
  9. 2.4 4 km SSW of Pa‘auilo, Hawaii
  10. 1.7 34 km ENE of Honaunau-Napoopoo, Hawaii
  11. 2.1 9 km E of Waikoloa, Hawaii
  12. 3.2 22 km WSW of Hāwī, Hawaii
  13. 2.3 22 km SW of Pa‘auilo, Hawaii
  14. 3.0 23 km SSE of Waimea, Hawaii
  15. 1.9 15 km SE of Waimea, 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.