Earthquakes

Kīlauea and other active Hawaiian volcanoes are ideal natural laboratories for researching how volcanoes work, because they are easy to access and have frequent eruptions and earthquakes.

Scientists at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) monitor, analyze, and report on earthquakes that occur throughout the Hawaiian Islands.

Volcano and earthquake hazards occur regularly in Hawaii.

The earthquake hazard in the State of Hawaii is among the highest in the United States. The south side of the Island of Hawai‘i is under the greatest threat, as evidenced by the three largest earthquakesthat occurred there since 1868.

Residents of Hawaii are accustomed to feeling earthquake shaking. The magnitude, location, and depth of an earthquake, and overlying soil conditions determine how widely and strongly any particular event can be felt. Typically, people report feeling earthquakes larger than about magnitude 3.0.

Thousands of earthquakes occur every year in the State of Hawaii. They are caused by eruptive processes within the active volcanoes or by deep structural adjustments due to the weight of the islands on Earth's underlying crust.