At 10:44 a.m. Sunday (March 9) a weak 3.5 magnitude (preliminary reading) earthquake struck the Big Island in the area of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. The quake was reportedly felt in the Volcano area, Mountain View and Paauilo.

Coordinates
19.3830, -155.2447

Depth
3.2 km (2.0 mi)

Magnitude
3.5

Local Time
Sun, 3/9/2014 10:44:07 AM

UTC Time
Sun, 09 Mar 2014 20:44:07 GMT

Distance from:
5.0 km (3.1 mi) SSE of Kilauea Summit (139 deg)
5.4 km (3.3 mi) SSW of Volcano (188 deg)
14.3 km (8.9 mi) W of Pu`u `O`o Crater (266 deg)

USGS: How large does an earthquake have to be to cause a tsunami?

Magnitudes below 6.5
Earthquakes of this magnitude are very unlikely to trigger a tsunami.

Magnitudes between 6.5 and 7.5
Earthquakes of this size do not usually produce destructive tsunamis. However, small sea level changes may be observed in the vicinity of the epicenter. Tsunamis capable of producing damage or casualties are rare in this magnitude range but have occurred due to secondary effects such as landslides or submarine slumps.

Magnitudes between 7.6 and 7.8
Earthquakes of this size may produce destructive tsunamis especially near the epicenter; at greater distances small sea level changes may be observed. Tsunamis capable of producing damage at great distances are rare in the magnitude range.

Magnitude 7.9 and greater
Destructive local tsunamis are possible near the epicenter, and significant sea level changes and damage may occur in a broader region.

Note that with a magnitude 9.0 earthquake, the probability of an aftershock with a magnitude exceeding 7.5 is not negligible. To date, the largest aftershock recorded has been magnitude 7.1 that did not produce a damaging tsunami.