QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.4ml

5 km WSW of Volcano, Hawaii

37 km (23 mi) SW of Hilo, HI

· 0.3 km deep · released about 2 tons of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Hawaii County 31 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
Magnitude
M 3.4 (ml)
Depth
0.3 km below the surface
Felt
28 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Measured shaking
intensity IV (ShakeMap)
Nearest
Hawaii County, 31 km NW
Nearest mapped fault
Ka'oiki-Honu'apo fault system, 6 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 49 minutes ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage. 28 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 2 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.4 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 86,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 3,800× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,700× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.4 about 2 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 4.1× more

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 170,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 43 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.7 17 km SSW of Leilani Estates, Hawaii · 30 km ESE of this epicentre
  2. 6.7 Island of Hawai`i, Hawaii · 28 km ESE of this epicentre
  3. 6.7 22 km W of Volcano, Hawaii · 18 km W of this epicentre
  4. 6.4 Kaoiki area, Hawaii · 13 km W of this epicentre
  5. 6.2 Kilauea South Flank, Hawaii · 28 km ESE 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 19.4157, -155.2770. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Hawaii County, HI 31 km (19 mi) NW earthquakes near Hawaii County

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

Aftershocks so far

No further earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

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.

Revisions

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

What changedFromToWhen
felt reports2728
felt reports2627
longitude-155.28-155.28
latitude19.4219.42
depth0.290.32
felt reports2526
felt reports2325
measured intensity4.334.31
felt reports2023
felt reports1520
measured intensitynot reported4.33
review statusautomaticreviewed

On USGS

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.