QuakeIndex

Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change

M 1.7md

Earthquake near Pāhala, HI

USGS: 14 km ESE of Pāhala, Hawaii

8:21 pm HST, Sep 30, 2026 · · 27 km deep · released about 11 lb of TNT

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10 km30 km60 km120 km N Hawaii County 53 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
8:21 pm HST on 30 September 2026 ()
Where
15 km (9 mi) ESE of Pāhala, HI · earthquakes near Pāhala
Magnitude
M 1.7 (md)
Depth
27 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Hawaii County, 53 km NNW
Nearest mapped fault
Hilina fault system, 8 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
Status
Automatic — a machine’s first estimate, which may change

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2 days ago

A magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 15 km (9 mi) ESE of Pāhala, HI, at 8:21 pm HST on 30 September 2026 (06:21 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

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 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 89× 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 6.9 on 2018-05-04 — about 63,000,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 48 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.7 17 km SSW of Leilani Estates, Hawaii · 43 km ENE of this epicentre
  2. 6.7 Island of Hawai`i, Hawaii · 42 km NE of this epicentre
  3. 6.7 22 km W of Volcano, Hawaii · 33 km NNW of this epicentre
  4. 6.4 Kaoiki area, Hawaii · 33 km N of this epicentre
  5. 6.2 Kilauea South Flank, Hawaii · 42 km NE 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 19.1403, -155.3527. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Hawaii County, HI 53 km (33 mi) NNW 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. 1.8 5 km SW of Volcano, Hawaii
  2. 2.2 5 km WSW of Volcano, Hawaii
  3. 1.9 5 km WSW of Volcano, Hawaii
  4. 2.0 5 km WSW of Volcano, Hawaii
  5. 1.9 23 km ESE of Naalehu, Hawaii
  6. 2.3 9 km SW of Wai‘ōhinu, Hawaii
  7. 1.9 4 km SW of Pāhala, Hawaii
  8. 1.9 1 km NW of Pāhala, Hawaii
  9. 1.8 22 km SSE of Pāhala, Hawaii
  10. 1.9 5 km WSW of Volcano, Hawaii
  11. 1.9 5 km SSW of Pāhala, Hawaii
  12. 2.0 5 km WSW of Volcano, Hawaii
  13. 1.9 5 km WSW of Volcano, Hawaii
  14. 1.9 22 km SE of Naalehu, Hawaii
  15. 1.4 6 km SSE of Pāhala, 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.