Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5ml
Earthquake near Fern Forest, HI
USGS: 11 km SSE of Fern Forest, Hawaii
35 km (22 mi) S of Hilo, HI
- When
- 12:44 pm HST on 6 October 2026 ()
- Where
- 11 km (7 mi) SSE of Fern Forest, HI · earthquakes near Fern Forest
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 7.9 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Hawaii County, 50 km WNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Hilina fault system, 4 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 4 hours ago
A magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 11 km (7 mi) SSE of Fern Forest, HI, at 12:44 pm HST on 6 October 2026 (22:44 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Eden Roc, Fern Acres, Volcano, Hawaiian Acres, Ainaloa, Mountain View.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 6.2 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,500,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,700,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 150× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 6.2 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 110,000,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 39 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 7.7 17 km SSW of Leilani Estates, Hawaii · 10 km ESE of this epicentre
- 6.7 Island of Hawai`i, Hawaii · 7 km ESE of this epicentre
- 6.7 22 km W of Volcano, Hawaii · 39 km W of this epicentre
- 6.4 Kaoiki area, Hawaii · 34 km W of this epicentre
- 6.2 Kilauea South Flank, Hawaii · 7 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 19.3748, -155.0835. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hawaii County, HI | 50 km (31 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Hawaii County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
2 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 changed | From | To | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| review status | automatic | reviewed | |
| location | 13 km SSE of Fern Forest, Hawaii | 11 km SSE of Fern Forest, Hawaii | |
| longitude | -155.07 | -155.08 | |
| latitude | 19.36 | 19.37 | |
| depth | 3.75 | 7.89 | |
| magnitude | 1.7 | 1.54 |
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.