Moderate earthquakes rattle Kilauea as swarm continues

A magnitude-4.3 earthquake rattled the summit of Kilauea early this morning, continuing a swarm of small tremors shaking the region since Wednesday.

The earthquake, recorded at 3:53 a.m., was centered near the summit of Kilauea. It is the largest of more than 100 small quakes in a swarm that began two days ago.

USGS geophysicist Randy Baldwin said since the earthquake struck on land, there was no tsunami danger.  

On Thursday night a magnitude 4.1 earthquake was also felt on Hawaii island. That earthquake, which hit at 9:11 p.m., was centered 5 miles west of Volcano at a depth of 3.2 miles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The shaking was felt up to 75 miles away in Waikoloa, according to the USGS. A flurry of small temblors were recorded after the 4.1 magnitude quake.

On Wednesday, USGS officials said a swarm of more than 60 small, shallow quakes — the strongest measuring magnitude 3.2 — were recorded in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

Swarms of small quakes have been recorded before in the area and sometimes signal a shift in the eruption of the east rift of the volcano, they said.

———

The Associated Press contributed to this story.