Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.3ml
Earthquake near Pāhala, HI
Yes. A magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 28 km (18 mi) north-northwest of Pāhala, HI, at 2:47 pm HST on 18 October 2026 (00:47 UTC), 39 km deep. No felt reports to USGS yet.
USGS: 28 km NNW of Pāhala, Hawaii
60 km (37 mi) WSW of Hilo, HI
- When
- 2:47 pm HST on 18 October 2026 ()
- Where
- 28 km (18 mi) north-northwest of Pāhala, HI · earthquakes near Pāhala
- Magnitude
- M 2.3 (ml)
- Depth
- 39 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Hawaii County, 20 km NNE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Mauna Loa Volcano, 2 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 1 hour ago
Earthquake alerts for Pāhala, HI
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Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Pāhala, 28 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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Honaunau-Napoopoo.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 98 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 150,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 110,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 9.8× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.3 about 98 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 6.0 on 2026-05-23 — about 270,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 34 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.7 22 km W of Volcano, Hawaii · 15 km E of this epicentre
- 6.4 Kaoiki area, Hawaii · 20 km E of this epicentre
- 6.3 20 km SSW of Honaunau-Napoopoo, Hawaii · 39 km WSW of this epicentre
- 6.2 8 km SW of Volcano, Hawaii · 30 km E of this epicentre
- 6.2 21 km N of Pahala, Hawaii · 15 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 19.4373, -155.5878. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hawaii County, HI | 20 km (12 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Hawaii County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
6 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.3 2 km SW of Pāhala, Hawaii
- 2.0 1 km SW of Pāhala, Hawaii
- 1.9 18 km NNE of Pāhala, Hawaii
- 1.8 15 km NE of Pāhala, Hawaii
- 1.9 17 km NE of Pāhala, Hawaii
- 2.9 13 km SSW of Waikoloa, 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
- 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.