KAILUA-KONA — No tsunami was triggered by a magnitude-5.3 earthquake Thursday morning on the south flank of Kilauea Volcano.
KAILUA-KONA — No tsunami was triggered by a magnitude-5.3 earthquake Thursday morning on the south flank of Kilauea Volcano.
The temblor struck at 7:01 a.m. Hawaii time and had a registered depth of about 4 miles, according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center and U.S. Geological Survey. It was centered about 11 miles southeast of Volcano.
Initial reports put the earthquake’s magnitude at 5.1, however, a subsequent statement from the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory upgraded it to a magnitude-5.3 earthquake.
The observatory said there have been at least 15 aftershocks following the earthquake.
Hawaii County Civil Defense did not receive any reports of damage.
As of 8:40 a.m., more than 850 people reported having felt the earthquake. Of the reports, 196 came from Hilo, 110 from Pahoa and 96 from Keaau. The earthquake was reported felt as far away as Waianae, Oahu, and Koloa, Kauai.
Kilauea’s south flank has been the site of 29 earthquakes of magnitude-4.0 or greater during the past 25 years. Most are caused by abrupt motion of the volcano’s south flank, which moves to the southeast over the oceanic crust as a result of magma being injected into the East Rift Zone and long-term settling of the volcano. The location and depth for Thursday’s earthquake are consistent with slip along or above this south flank fault.
According to HVO Scientist-in-Charge Christina Neal, the earthquake had no apparent effect on the volcano’s ongoing eruptions.
“HVO monitoring networks have not detected any significant changes in activity at the summit or along the rift zones of Kilauea or at other Hawaiian volcanoes resulting from the earthquake.”