14 km N of Pāhala, Hawaii

59 km (36 mi) SW of Hilo, HI

2026-09-30 21:18 UTC · 6.1 km deep · released about 8.7 lb of TNT

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: 2026-09-30 21:18 UTC
Magnitude: M 1.6 (ml)
Depth: 6.1 km below the surface
Felt: no reports yet
Nearest: Hawaii County, 29 km N
Nearest mapped fault: Ka'oiki-Honu'apo fault system, under 1 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS 3 hours ago · we first saw it 4 hours ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 8.7 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,700,000× the energy of this one
Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,200,000× the energy of this one
Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
This earthquake M 1.6 about 8.7 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 6.0 on 2026-05-23 — about 3,000,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 41 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

6.7 22 km W of Volcano, Hawaii · 11 km NNE of this epicentre Nov 16, 1983
6.4 Kaoiki area, Hawaii · 15 km NE of this epicentre Mar 28, 1915
6.3 20 km SSW of Honaunau-Napoopoo, Hawaii · 45 km W of this epicentre Aug 21, 1951
6.2 8 km SW of Volcano, Hawaii · 22 km ENE of this epicentre Nov 2, 1918
6.2 21 km N of Pahala, Hawaii · 8 km NE of this epicentre Jun 28, 1962

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 19.3372, -155.4983. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

Place	Distance	Direction from the epicentre
Hawaii County, HI	29 km (18 mi)	N	earthquakes near Hawaii County

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

Aftershocks so far

1 earthquake has been recorded within 50 km since this one.

1.8 7 km SW of Volcano, Hawaii 00:56 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 01:36 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	22:43 UTC
location	15 km N of Pāhala, Hawaii	14 km N of Pāhala, Hawaii	22:43 UTC
longitude	-155.49	-155.5	22:43 UTC
latitude	19.35	19.34	22:43 UTC
depth	2.22	6.14	22:43 UTC
magnitude	2.1	1.64	22:43 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.