QuakeIndex

Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change

M 1.9ml

Earthquake near Fern Forest, HI

Yes. A magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 9 km (6 mi) south-southwest of Fern Forest, HI, at 8:20 am HST on 18 October 2026 (18:20 UTC), 2.2 km deep. No felt reports to USGS yet. The magnitude and location are an automatic first estimate and may change.

USGS: 9 km SSW of Fern Forest, Hawaii

35 km (22 mi) SSW of Hilo, HI

8:20 am HST, Oct 18, 2026 · · 2.2 km deep · released about 22 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Fern Forest Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Hawaii County 43 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
8:20 am HST on 18 October 2026 ()
Where
9 km (6 mi) south-southwest of Fern Forest, HI · earthquakes near Fern Forest
Magnitude
M 1.9 (ml)
Depth
2.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Hawaii County, 43 km WNW
Nearest mapped fault
Koa'e fault system, 6 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 6 hours ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 15 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Fern Forest, 9 km away, the estimate is intensity II (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: Fern Forest 9 km, intensity II · Volcano 10 km, intensity II · Eden Roc 13 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 22 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 680,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 480,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 43× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 22 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 31,000,000 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 · 18 km ESE of this epicentre
  2. 6.7 Island of Hawai`i, Hawaii · 16 km ESE of this epicentre
  3. 6.7 22 km W of Volcano, Hawaii · 30 km W of this epicentre
  4. 6.4 Kaoiki area, Hawaii · 25 km WNW of this epicentre
  5. 6.2 Kilauea South Flank, Hawaii · 16 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 19.3857, -155.1632. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Hawaii County, HI 43 km (27 mi) WNW earthquakes near Hawaii County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.4 27 km SSE of Volcano, Hawaii
  2. 1.9 14 km SE of Fern Forest, Hawaii
  3. 2.7 3 km SW 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.