- Residents in Oahu – about 200 miles (320 kilometers) from the epicenter – reported massive tremors and shaking buildings
A 5.7 magnitude earthquake has struck south of Hawaii’s Big Island, rocking buildings and causing massive tremors across the state, officials say.
The earthquake struck at an ocean depth of more than 35 kilometers, about 2.4 kilometers from the coast of Kau, although the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) said no tsunami is expected.
Residents of the island of Oahu – more than 200 miles (320 kilometers) from the epicenter – reported strong shaking and some damage, but it is unclear whether the quake resulted in any deaths or injuries.
The PTWC cataloged the natural disaster’s intensity as VI – meaning it is significant but not expected to cause catastrophic damage.
Officials initially recorded the earthquake at a magnitude of 6.3, but later downgraded it to a magnitude of 5.7, according to the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency. said on X.
About an hour after the earthquake struck Hawaii, another magnitude 4.7 earthquake was recorded near Los Angeles, California. Earthquaketrack.com.
The magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) off the coast of Kau on Hawaii’s Big Island, while “massive” tremors were reported on the island of Oahu, more than 200 miles (320 kilometers) away.
Stunning footage captured the moment the earthquake violently shook a house in Hawaii, sending a man and boy running frantically to escape
After the first earthquake, six small aftershocks were reported in the Pahala area.
However, the extent of the damage in Hawaii remains unknown, according to journalist Nick Sortor reported that locals called it the “longest and strongest earthquake in a long time.”
Plate tectonics researcher Dr. Judith Hubbard said on X that the natural disaster occurred in an area that had “experienced a swarm of seismicity.”
Although the 5.7 magnitude is significant and close to others, such as the one in China in 2014 that killed 600 people, Hubbard said the earthquake “fortunately struck a low-density area.”
Stunning footage captured the moment the earthquake violently shook a house in Hawaii, sending a man and a boy running frantically to escape.
The Tsunami Agency has cataloged the intensity of the natural disaster as VI – meaning it is significant but not expected to cause catastrophic damage
Big Island Mayor Mitch Roth said he was in the middle of an appointment with a cardiologist when the earthquake struck, and “suddenly I felt like I was getting dizzy.”
Witnesses said the powerful earthquake sent shock waves through the state.
“I was sitting in my truck and I thought there was something wrong with my truck,” said community leader Ikaika Marzo in Hawaii KTRE.
“A lot of people felt it around me.”
Big Island Mayor Mitch Roth said he was in the middle of an appointment with a cardiologist when the earthquake struck.
“All of a sudden I felt like I was getting dizzy,” he said, joking that he initially thought he was feeling the effects of a procedure.
“We will probably hear about the damage within an hour to an hour,” he said shortly after the quake struck at 10 a.m. local time.
International Marketplace employee Alia Zannoni said she saw computer screens and photos shaking.
“We didn’t know what to do, so we sat in our doorways,” she said. “My family on Kauai said they felt it too.”