A huge earthquake has rocked a holiday island loved by Brits and other European tourists as 5.2 magnitude tremors spark panic. The powerful quake struck off the coast of Hawaii's Big Island just before 6pm local time on Tuesday, August 11, around 26 miles offshore and seven miles below sea level.
Shaking was felt in Hilo, on the eastern side of the island, although there were no reports of damage on the Big Island and no tsunami warnings were issued. However, the USGS warned that aftershocks could continue in the coming days to weeks. The earthquake was centred beneath Kamaʻehuakanaloa, an active undersea volcano formerly known as the Lo'ihi Seamount, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). Officials said the earthquake was associated with volcanic unrest beneath Kamaʻehuakanaloa rather than tectonic activity. The unrest at the underwater volcano had begun on Sunday, August 9. Kamaʻehuakanaloa lies around 19 miles off the Big Island, while its summit is approximately 0.6 miles below sea level.
Despite the size of the earthquake, it is not expected to have an impact on either Kilauea or Mauna Loa, two of the major volcanoes on the Big Island.
More than 48 "Felt Reports" were submitted within the first hour following the earthquake, mostly from southern and eastern areas of the Big Island, according to the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.
Community and instrument reports indicated the earthquake produced only light shaking, with no damage to buildings or infrastructure expected based on its intensity.
The agency said: "Intermittent earthquake activity has been recorded in the vicinity of Kama‘ehuakanaloa (Lō‘ihi) since as early as 1952."
Kamaʻehuakanaloa has experienced significantly larger earthquake sequences in the past. The most energetic occurred between July and August 1996, when more than 4,000 earthquakes were recorded.
Nearly 300 of those events were greater than magnitude 3.0, while 95 measured between magnitude 4.0 and 4.9.
More recently, a swarm of 100 earthquakes was recorded on May 11, 2020, including 18 events measuring between magnitude 3.0 and 3.9.
There are currently no working monitoring instruments on Kamaʻehuakanaloa itself, meaning all real-time information about the underwater volcano is obtained using land-based seismometers on the Big Island.
Its summit sits approximately 3,280ft below sea level, while the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory continues to monitor Hawaii's volcanoes for any changes.
Meanwhile, Hawaii's Big Island is also being rocked by separate volcanic activity after Kīlauea burst into life again on Wednesday, sending fountains of lava into the air in its 53rd eruptive episode.
The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said the earthquake sequence beneath Kamaʻehuakanaloa has "no apparent impact" on either Mauna Loa or Kīlauea.
