Magnitude 4.7 Earthquake off the south coast of Big Island, Hawai'i.

The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 4.7 Earthquake at a depth of 36.1 km, about 19 off the south coast of of Big Island, Hawaii, at about 6.05 am local time (about 4.05 pm GMT) on Monday 27 July 2020. This was a large quake for Hawaii, and was felt across the entire of Big Island, as well as on the neighbouring islands of Maui, Kaho'olawe, Lāna'i, Moloka'i, O'ahu, and Kaua'i, though there are no reports of any injuries or damage associated with this event.

The approximate location of the 27 July 2020 Big Island Earthquake. USGS. 

The islands of Hawaii have formed as a result of hotspot volcanism, with the hotspot currently located under Big Island, Hawai'i, and each of the other islands being the result of previous activity from the same hotspot, with the oldest Islands in the northwest and newest in the southeast. A volcanic hotspot is an area where magma from deep inside the Earth is welling up through the overlying plate (in this case the Pacific) to create volcanism at the surface. Volcanoes move as they erupt, swelling as magma enters their chambers from bellow, then shrinking as that magma is vented as lava. The movements of a group of volcanoes close to one another can place considerable strain on layered rocks, and the islands of Hawai'i, and in particular Big Island, are very prone to Earthquakes, though these tend to be small and frequent rather than large, rare and destructive.

he position of the Hawai'i Hotspot relative to the islands of Hawai'i. Joel Robinson/USGS/Wikimedia Commons.

Witness accounts of quakes can help geologists to understand these events and the rock structures that cause them. If you felt this quake (or if you were in the area but did not, which is also useful information) you can report it to the USGS here. 

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Magnitude 4.6 Earthquake beneath Big Island Hawai'i.

The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 4.6 Earthquake at a depth of 7.0 km beneath the eastern part of Big Island, Hawaii, at about 11.20 pm local time on Thursday 2 July 2020 (about 9.30 am on Friday 3 July GMT) . This was a large quake for Hawaii, and was felt across the entire of Big Island, as well as on the neighbouring islands of Maui, Kaho'olawe, Lāna'i, Moloka'i, O'ahu, and Kaua'i, though there are no reports of any injuries or damage associated with this event.

The approximate location of the 2 July 2020 Big Island Earthquake. USGS. 

The islands of Hawaii have formed as a result of hotspot volcanism, with the hotspot currently located under Big Island, Hawai'i, and each of the other islands being the result of previous activity from the same hotspot, with the oldest Islands in the northwest and newest in the southeast. A volcanic hotspot is an area where magma from deep inside the Earth is welling up through the overlying plate (in this case the Pacific) to create volcanism at the surface. Volcanoes move as they erupt, swelling as magma enters their chambers from bellow, then shrinking as that magma is vented as lava. The movements of a group of volcanoes close to one another can place considerable strain on layered rocks, and the islands of Hawai'i, and in particular Big Island, are very prone to Earthquakes, though these tend to be small and frequent rather than large, rare and destructive.

The position of the Hawai'i Hotspot relative to the islands of Hawai'i. Joel Robinson/USGS/Wikimedia Commons.

Witness accounts of quakes can help geologists to understand these events and the rock structures that cause them. If you felt this quake (or if you were in the area but did not, which is also useful information) you can report it to the USGS here. 

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Magnitude 5.3 Earthquake beneath Big Island, Hawai'i.

The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 5.3 Earthquake at a depth of 13.2 km beneath the western part of Big Island, Hawaii, slightly before 5.10 pm local time on Saturday 13 April 2019 (slightly before 3.10 am on Sunday 14 April GMT) . This was a large quake for Hawaii, and was felt across the entire of Big Island, as well as on the neighbouring islands of Maui, Kaho'olawe, Lāna'i, Moloka'i, O'ahu, and Kaua'i, though there are no reports of any injuries or damage associated with this event.

 The approximate location of the 13 April 2019 Big Island Earthquake. USGS.

The islands of Hawaii have formed as a result of hotspot volcanism, with the hotspot currently located under Big Island, Hawai'i, and each of the other islands being the result of previous activity from the same hotspot, with the oldest Islands in the northwest and newest in the southeast. A volcanic hotspot is an area where magma from deep inside the Earth is welling up through the overlying plate (in this case the Pacific) to create volcanism at the surface. Volcanoes move as they erupt, swelling as magma enters their chambers from bellow, then shrinking as that magma is vented as lava. The movements of a group of volcanoes close to one another can place considerable strain on layered rocks, and the islands of Hawai'i, and in particular Big Island, are very prone to Earthquakes, though these tend to be small and frequent rather than large, rare and destructive.

The position of the Hawai'i Hotspot relative to the islands of Hawai'i. Joel Robinson/USGS/Wikimedia Commons.

Witness accounts of quakes can help geologists to understand these events and the rock structures that cause them. If you felt this quake (or if you were in the area but did not, which is also useful information) you can report it to the USGS here. 

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Tourists injured after lava bomb strikes boat by coast of Hawai'i.

Twenty three people have been injured, three of them seriously, after a lava bomb (chunk of lava thrown from a volcano, in either liquid or solid form) from Mount Kilauea struck a tour boat of the coast of Hawai'i on Monday 16 July 2018. The volcano began erupting from a new fissure on its eastern flank on 3 May 2018, since when a series of fissures have opened up, producing several major lava flows, which have destroyed many homes and other properties, and at least one of which has reached the sea, producing a laze (toxic haze resulting from hot lava hitting water, producing chemical-laden steam, which had led to the U.S. Coast Guard imposing a 50 m exclusion zone around areas of the coast that were being reached by the lava, though the boat struck by the lava bomb despite being outside this zone.

Damage to a tourist boat struckby a lava bomb off the coast of Hawai'i on 16 July 2018. Hawai'i Department of Land and Natural Resources.

The islands of Hawai'i have formed as a result of hotspot volcanism, with a mantle plume hotspot currently located under Big Island, Hawai'i, and each of the other islands being the result of previous activity from the same hotspot, with the oldest Islands in the northwest and newest in the southeast. A volcanic hotspot is an area where magma from deep inside the Earth is welling up through the overlying plate (in this case the Pacific) to create volcanism at the surface. Volcanoes move as they erupt, swelling as magma enters their chambers from bellow, then shrinking as that magma is vented as lava.

 The position of the Hawai'i Hotspot relative to the islands of Hawai'i. Joel Robinson/USGS/Wikimedia Commons.

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Hawai'ian man injured by lava bomb from Mount Kilauea.

A Hawai'ian man has suffered a broken leg after being struck by a lava bomb (chunk of lava thrown from a volcano, in either liquid or solid form), described as being as heavy as a refrigerator, from Mount Kilauea on Hawai'i (or 'Big') Island on Sunday 20 May 2018. The man is described as having been on his balcony at the time of the incident. The volcano began erupting from a new fissure on its eastern flank on 3 May 2018, since when a series of fissures have opened up, producing several major lava flows, which have destroyed many homes and other properties, and at least one of which has reached the sea, producing a laze (toxic haze resulting from hot lava hitting water, producing chemical-laden steam. At the same time the volcano has produced a number of gas and ash columns, some of which have reached over three kilometres in height, which are described as being particularly rich in hydrochloric acid, sulphur dioxide and volcanic glass.

Lava flow on Mount Kilauea. USGS/AP.

The islands of Hawai'i have formed as a result of hotspot volcanism, with a mantle plume hotspot currently located under Big Island, Hawai'i, and each of the other islands being the result of previous activity from the same hotspot, with the oldest Islands in the northwest and newest in the southeast. A volcanic hotspot is an area where magma from deep inside the Earth is welling up through the overlying plate (in this case the Pacific) to create volcanism at the surface. Volcanoes move as they erupt, swelling as magma enters their chambers from bellow, then shrinking as that magma is vented as lava.

 The position of the Hawai'i Hotspot relative to the islands of Hawai'i. Joel Robinson/USGS/Wikimedia Commons.

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Fissure eruption on Mount Kilauea, Hawai'i, leads to evacuations and destruction of homes.

Mount Kilauea, a 1247 m shield volcano (dome shaped volcano made up largely of layers of lava) on eastern Hawai'i (or 'Big') Island, began erupting on Thursday 3 May 2018, when lava began to spew  from a 150 m rift on the eastern flank of the volcano, prompting local authorities to enforce a mandatory evacuation in the neighbourhoods of Leilani Estates and Lanipuna Gardens, both about 40 km from the crater of the volcano. Since then about 35 homes in the Leilani Estates have been destroyed by lava, although the main threat to human safety is not considered to be the lava, which is slow moving and can generally be avoided, but from poisonous sulphur dioxide gas which is also emitting from the fissure.

Burning homes ignited by lava in Leilani Estates, Hawai'i, on 6 May 2018. Trevor Hughs/USA Today.

The eruption has caused a 300 m drop in the level of the Halema‘uma‘u Lava Lake in the caldera of Mount Kilauea, as lava escapes from the fissure, which has concerned vulcanologists at the Hawai'i Volcano Observatory, as the shrinking lake has led to debris falling into the crater, something which has historically led to explosive eruptions on the volcano when the lava lake begins to refill and finds its way obstructed (explosive eruptions on shield volcanoes are otherwise extremely rare. This last happened in 1924, when about 14 tonnes of material was thrown from the caldera in a series of explosive eruptions caused by steam building up beneath debris that had fallen into the crater, throwing a material up to 270 m from the crater and resulting in the death of an onlooker.

Ash column over  Mount Kilauea on 3 May 2018. USGS.

The islands of Hawai'i have formed as a result of hotspot volcanism, with a mantle plume hotspot currently located under Big Island, Hawai'i, and each of the other islands being the result of previous activity from the same hotspot, with the oldest Islands in the northwest and newest in the southeast. A volcanic hotspot is an area where magma from deep inside the Earth is welling up through the overlying plate (in this case the Pacific) to create volcanism at the surface. Volcanoes move as they erupt, swelling as magma enters their chambers from bellow, then shrinking as that magma is vented as lava.

The position of the Hawai'i Hotspot relative to the islands of Hawai'i. Joel Robinson/USGS/Wikimedia Commons.

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Crater collapse triggers explosion on Kilauea volcano, Hawaii.

A portion of the rim of the Halema‘uma‘u Crater on Mount Kilauea, Hawaii, collapsed on Sunday 3 May 2015, triggering a dramatic, but harmless explosion. Halema‘uma‘u is a small crater located within the main caldera of Kilauea, which contains a lava lake. This lava lake has been at its highest levels since 2008 this month, actually overtopping the rim of the crater on Saturday 29 April, and in addition releasing a large amount of volcanic gas. This appears to have weakened the rocks around the rim of the crater, eventually leading to a partial collapse with rocks tumbling into the crater. The sudden impact of the rocks onto lava with a high dissolved gas content triggered an explosive release of gas, similar to a shaken fizzy drink bottle, throwing fragments of rock up to 85 m from the crater.

The 30 April 2015 Halema‘uma‘u Crater explosion. United States Geological Survey.

The islands of Hawaii have formed as a result of hotspot volcanism, with the hotspot currently located under Big Island, Hawai'i, and each of the other islands being the result of previous activity from the same hotspot, with the oldest Islands in the northwest and newest in the southeast. A volcanic hotspot is an area where magma from deep inside the Earth is welling up through the overlying plate (in this case the Pacific) to create volcanism at the surface. Volcanoes move as they erupt, swelling as magma enters their chambers from bellow, then shrinking as that magma is vented as lava.

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Homes threatened by lava flow on Big Island, Hawaii.

Homes in the community of Kaohe Homesteads on Big Island, Hawaii, are being threatened by a lava flow from the Kilauea Volcano, that have reached 1.6 km from the settlement and could potentially reach it in five to...

Magnitude 4.5 Earthquake on Big Island, Hawaii.

The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 4.5 Earthquake at a depth of 16.8 km on te northern part of Big Island, Hawaii, slightly before...

Magnitude 4.1 Earthquake on western Molokai Island, Hawaii.

The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 4.1 Earthquake close to the surface on western Molokai Island, Hawaii, sllightly after...

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