Magnitude-4.8 earthquake shakes Kilauea
Magnitude-4.8 earthquake shakes Kilauea
The U.S. Geological Survey reported a magnitude-4.8 earthquake this morning near the summit of Kilauea Volcano.
The temblor, at 5:54 a.m., was followed by several aftershocks, the largest of which was a magnitude-3.4 earthquake at 6:06 a.m.
Hawaii County Civil Defense said no tsunami was triggered by the quake.
The earthquakes were located 5 miles south of the summit, almost directly below the Kulanaokuaiki campground in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, at about 20 miles deep.
“These earthquakes were most likely structural adjustments of the Earth’s crust due to the weight of the island on the underlying mantle,” said Wes Thelen, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory’s seismic network manager. “The earthquake likely occurred on a near-horizontal fault plane in the mantle, which has hosted earthquakes in this region before. Despite their location near Kilauea’s summit, it’s unlikely that the earthquakes were volcanic in nature due to their depth, which is below, and offset from, the volcano’s known magma plumbing system.”
The earthquakes had no apparent effect on Kilauea’s ongoing eruptions, HVO officials said.