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PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER
This map from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center shows the location of a magnitude 4.5 earthquake that struck early Sunday morning off Hawaii island. The earthquake did not generate a tsunami.
A magnitude 4.5 earthquake shook Hawaii island early Sunday morning, but no tsunami was generated and there were no immediate reports of serious injuries or damage.
The earthquake struck at 3:23 a.m. about 7 miles west of Kalaoa and 10 miles northwest of Kailua-Kona at a depth of 6.2 miles, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.
Only light shaking was reported and the earthquake caused no detectable changes to the volcanoes on Hawaii island, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reported.
The earthquake was widely felt on the Big Island. The USGS “Did You Feel It?” website received more than 150 felt reports, including 3 people who said they felt it on Oahu at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam and in Aiea.
During the past 30 years, geologists recorded 23 earthquakes, including Sunday’s temblor, in the same area offshore of Keahole Point with magnitudes greater than 3.0 and depths of 3 to 9 miles.
The volcano observatory said earthquakes at this depth off the west coast of the Big Island are typically caused by abrupt motion on the boundary between the old ocean floor and the volcanic material of the island and are usually not directly related to volcanic activity.
As of 7 a.m., no aftershocks of the earthquake were reported, volcano scientists said.
An unrelated earthquake, estimated at magnitude 3.3, struck at 12:16 a.m. It was centered 11 miles south of Kapaau and 36 miles north-northeast of Kailua-Kona at a depth of about 16 miles.
