Earthquake near Wainaku, HI

USGS: 26 km W of Wainaku, Hawaii

28 km (17 mi) W of Hilo, HI

11:48 am HST, Oct 6, 2026 · 2026-10-06 21:48 UTC · 0.4 km deep · released about 28 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: 11:48 am HST on 6 October 2026 (2026-10-06 21:48 UTC)
Where: 26 km (16 mi) W of Wainaku, HI · earthquakes near Wainaku
Magnitude: M 2.0 (md)
Depth: 0.4 km below the surface
Felt: no reports yet
Nearest: Hawaii County, 22 km SW
Status: Automatic — a machine’s first estimate, which may change

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

A magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 26 km (16 mi) W of Wainaku, HI, at 11:48 am HST on 6 October 2026 (21:48 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Hilo, Pāpa‘ikou, Pepeekeo.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 28 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.

Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 540,000× the energy of this one
Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 380,000× the energy of this one
Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 34× the energy of this one
This earthquake M 2.0 about 28 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 5.5 on 2019-03-13 — about 220,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 26 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

6.7 22 km W of Volcano, Hawaii · 35 km SSW of this epicentre Nov 16, 1983
6.4 Kaoiki area, Hawaii · 34 km S of this epicentre Mar 28, 1915
6.2 8 km SW of Volcano, Hawaii · 37 km S of this epicentre Nov 2, 1918
6.2 21 km N of Pahala, Hawaii · 39 km SSW of this epicentre Jun 28, 1962
6.2 3 km WSW of Honomu, Hawaii · 25 km NE of this epicentre Apr 26, 1973

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

Nearby places

Place	Distance	Direction from the epicentre
Hawaii County, HI	22 km (14 mi)	SW	earthquakes near Hawaii County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1.8 15 km SSW of Volcano, Hawaii 01:55 UTC
2.1 13 km SSW of Volcano, Hawaii 01:50 UTC
2.2 26 km NNW of Pāhala, Hawaii 23:13 UTC
1.5 11 km SSE of Fern Forest, Hawaii 22:44 UTC
3.1 10 km SSW of Pa‘auilo, Hawaii 22:30 UTC
2.5 10 km SSW of Pa‘auilo, Hawaii 21:59 UTC
2.8 10 km SSW of Pa‘auilo, Hawaii 21:57 UTC
2.3 10 km SSW of Pa‘auilo, Hawaii 21:53 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 02:22 UTC. QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.

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.