Five aftershocks followed magnitude 4.3 earthquake Monday (Feb 9)

A seismograph readout by the US Geological Survey of the 4.3 magnitude event on Kilauea.

A seismograph readout by the US Geological Survey of the 4.3 magnitude event on Kilauea.

By USGS/HVO

The U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) recorded a magnitude-4.3 earthquake located beneath KÄ«lauea Volcano on the Island of HawaiÊ»i on Monday, February 9, at 8:16 a.m., HST. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (http://ptwc.weather.gov/?region=2) determined that no damaging tsunami was generated by the earthquake.

According to Wes Thelen, HVO’s Seismic Network Manager, the earthquake was centered about 8 km (5 mi) west-southwest of the summit of KÄ«lauea and at a depth of approximately 13 km (8 mi). A map showing its location is posted on the HVO website at
http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/seismic/volcweb/earthquakes/.

The USGS “Did you feel it?” Web site (http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/dyfi/) received more than 80 felt reports within two hours of the earthquake. It was felt across the Island of HawaiÊ»i, but most of the felt reports were from the village of Volcano. Reports indicate that residents experienced only weak shaking (Intensity III) during the earthquake. At these shaking intensities, damage to buildings or structures is not expected.

As of 10 a.m., HST, Monday morning, February 9, five aftershocks of the magnitude-4.3 earthquake have been recorded. The strongest of these aftershocks has been magnitude-1.

During the past 25 years, there have been two earthquakes in this same general area with magnitudes greater than 3.0 and depths of 10–20 km (6–12 mi). Today’s earthquake could lie on the fault that marks the boundary between Mauna Loa and Kīlauea, or it could have occurred on a reactivated fault within the old oceanic crust upon which the Island of Hawaiʻi is built.

The earthquake has caused no detectable changes on Kīlauea or other active volcanoes on the Island of Hawaiʻi.

For information on recent earthquakes in Hawaiʻi and eruption updates, visit the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory website at http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov.

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