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Swarm of small quakes shakes undersea volcano off Hawaii island

COURTESY USGS
                                A swarm of small earthquakes struck Kama’ehuakanaloa volcano, formerly called Lo’ihi Seamount, off Hawaii island’s southeast coast Saturday.

COURTESY USGS

A swarm of small earthquakes struck Kama’ehuakanaloa volcano, formerly called Lo’ihi Seamount, off Hawaii island’s southeast coast Saturday.

Scores of small earthquakes — the largest at magnitude 4.3 — rumbled along the Kama‘ehuakanaloa undersea volcano southeast of Hawaii island Friday night and Saturday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The largest quake struck at about 12:05 p.m. at a depth of about 3.6 miles under the sea and about 3 miles under the volcano’s summit. It was centered about 31 miles east-southeast of Naalehu and 61 miles south-southwest of Hilo.

Kama‘ehuakanaloa volcano, formerly called Lo‘ihi Seamount, “entered a period of heightened seismic unrest” around 6 p.m. Friday, USGS scientists said Saturday.

“Although seismicity declined slightly around midnight, rates of earthquakes remain above background levels today. There have been over 70 earthquakes so far in this swarm, with 32 events greater than magnitude 2 and two events greater than magnitude 4,” a USGS summary said.

The USGS has so far received only one report of the larger volcano being felt on Hawaii island, scientists said.

“Elevated seismicity continues at Kama‘ehuakanaloa, but it is not expected to impact other volcanoes or any infrastructure on the island of Hawaii,” USGS officials said. Eruptive activity at the undersea volcano will have no impact on Big Island residents, they said.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the largest quake did not generate a tsunami.

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