QuakeIndex

Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change

M 2.8ml

Earthquake near Pāhala, HI

Yes. A magnitude 2.8 earthquake was recorded 13 km (8 mi) east-northeast of Pāhala, HI, at 9:23 am HST on 17 October 2026 (19:23 UTC), less than 1 km deep. No felt reports to USGS yet. The magnitude and location are an automatic first estimate and may change.

USGS: 13 km ENE of Pāhala, Hawaii

56 km (35 mi) SSW of Hilo, HI

9:23 am HST, Oct 17, 2026 · · -0.2 km deep · released about 420 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Pāhala Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Hawaii County 39 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
9:23 am HST on 17 October 2026 ()
Where
13 km (8 mi) east-northeast of Pāhala, HI · earthquakes near Pāhala
Magnitude
M 2.8 (ml)
Depth
-0.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Hawaii County, 39 km NNW
Nearest mapped fault
Hilina fault system, 1 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 hours ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 26 km (16 mi) from the epicentre. In Pāhala, 13 km away, the estimate is intensity III (weak). Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.

Likely felt in: Pāhala 13 km, intensity III · Volcano 24 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 420 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 36,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 26,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2.3× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.8 about 420 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 1,600,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 46 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.7 17 km SSW of Leilani Estates, Hawaii · 40 km E of this epicentre
  2. 6.7 Island of Hawai`i, Hawaii · 38 km ENE of this epicentre
  3. 6.7 22 km W of Volcano, Hawaii · 19 km NNW of this epicentre
  4. 6.4 Kaoiki area, Hawaii · 18 km N of this epicentre
  5. 6.2 Kilauea South Flank, Hawaii · 38 km ENE 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 19.2680, -155.3733. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Hawaii County, HI 39 km (24 mi) NNW 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.

  1. 1.8 9 km SSW of Volcano, Hawaii
  2. 1.3 7 km WSW of Volcano, 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.