Earthquake near Fern Acres, HI

USGS: 2 km WNW of Fern Acres, Hawaii

18 km (11 mi) S of Hilo, HI

9:17 pm HST, Sep 27, 2026 · 2026-09-28 07:17 UTC · 23 km deep · released about 46 lb of TNT

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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: 9:17 pm HST on 27 September 2026 (2026-09-28 07:17 UTC)
Where: 3 km (2 mi) WNW of Fern Acres, HI · earthquakes near Fern Acres
Magnitude: M 2.1 (ml)
Depth: 23 km below the surface
Felt: no reports yet
Nearest: Hawaii County, 43 km W
Nearest mapped fault: Hilina fault system, 20 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS 4 days ago · we first saw it 5 days ago

A magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) WNW of Fern Acres, HI, at 9:17 pm HST on 27 September 2026 (07:17 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Mountain View, Eden Roc, Hawaiian Acres, Fern Forest, Orchidlands Estates, Kurtistown.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 46 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.

Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 330,000× the energy of this one
Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 230,000× the energy of this one
Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 21× the energy of this one
This earthquake M 2.1 about 46 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 6.9 on 2018-05-04 — about 15,000,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 38 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

7.7 17 km SSW of Leilani Estates, Hawaii · 24 km SSE of this epicentre Nov 29, 1975
6.7 Island of Hawai`i, Hawaii · 21 km SSE of this epicentre Sep 21, 1908
6.7 22 km W of Volcano, Hawaii · 38 km WSW of this epicentre Nov 16, 1983
6.4 Kaoiki area, Hawaii · 33 km WSW of this epicentre Mar 28, 1915
6.2 Kilauea South Flank, Hawaii · 21 km SSE of this epicentre May 4, 1905

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

Epicentre 19.5245, -155.1018. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

Place	Distance	Direction from the epicentre
Hawaii County, HI	43 km (27 mi)	W	earthquakes near Hawaii County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

2.2 5 km WSW of Volcano, Hawaii 09:44 UTC
2.1 5 km WSW of Volcano, Hawaii 09:42 UTC
2.0 5 km WSW of Volcano, Hawaii 09:38 UTC
1.0 6 km WSW of Volcano, Hawaii 09:38 UTC
1.9 5 km WSW of Volcano, Hawaii 09:34 UTC
1.9 5 km WSW of Volcano, Hawaii 09:32 UTC
2.4 5 km WSW of Volcano, Hawaii 09:26 UTC
2.1 5 km WSW of Volcano, Hawaii 09:21 UTC
1.8 5 km WSW of Volcano, Hawaii 09:13 UTC
1.9 5 km WSW of Volcano, Hawaii 09:09 UTC
1.8 5 km WSW of Volcano, Hawaii 09:03 UTC
1.8 5 km WSW of Volcano, Hawaii 09:01 UTC
3.4 5 km WSW of Volcano, Hawaii 07:52 UTC
2.6 5 km SW of Volcano, Hawaii 07:32 UTC
2.1 5 km SSW of Volcano, Hawaii 06:47 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 01:04 UTC. QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.

Revisions

USGS refines a solution as more stations report. Every change we have seen is listed here.

What changed	From	To	When
review status	automatic	reviewed	23:45 UTC
location	2 km S of Mountain View, Hawaii	2 km WNW of Fern Acres, Hawaii	23:45 UTC
longitude	-155.11	-155.1	23:45 UTC
latitude	19.53	19.52	23:45 UTC
depth	21.39	23.12	23:45 UTC
magnitude	2.48	2.12	23:45 UTC

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.