Big Island earthquake damage grows, 143 properties reported affected
143 properties were reported damaged after the South Kona quake, including at least five homes destroyed, as crews kept clearing Highway 11 and power lines.
The South Kona quake left a far wider trail of damage than the first quick checks suggested. By Tuesday, Hawaii County Civil Defense had recorded 143 damaged properties, including at least five homes in South Kona that were considered destroyed, a count that pushed the response well beyond the first snapshots from the west side of Hawaii Island.
The damage was concentrated in the Hōnaunau-Nāpōopoo area and along the Highway 11 and Nāpōopoo Road corridor, where rockslides, outages and structural damage hit residents all at once. Civil Defense had completed 78 residential inspections by Tuesday. Those checks found 34 cases of major damage, 22 minor damage cases and more than a dozen properties classified as affected, showing how quickly a single nighttime earthquake can turn into a housing and utility crisis.
Under Federal Emergency Management Agency standards used by Civil Defense, destroyed means the damage is so severe that repair is not feasible, including cases where major structural components have collapsed. That distinction matters for South Kona homeowners and renters deciding whether they can return, repair or seek emergency housing help. At least two households had already asked for emergency housing assistance and were referred to the American Red Cross.
The quake also cut through daily life beyond damaged houses. About 1,000 Hawaiian Electric customers in South Kona lost power after the shaking, though most had service restored by Saturday evening. Hawaiian Electric later said the remaining South Kona customers were restored later on May 23. State crews worked through the night to clear boulders from roadways, some reportedly as large as five feet in diameter, and Highway 11 reopened Saturday morning. By Tuesday, debris piles were still being cleared from the shoulders.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the magnitude-6.0 earthquake struck at 9:46 p.m. HST on May 22, about 7 miles south of Hōnaunau-Nāpōopoo and 14 miles, or 22 kilometers, below sea level. Scientists said it was caused by stress from bending of the oceanic plate under the weight of the Hawaiian Islands, not by volcanic activity, and that it had no apparent impact on Mauna Loa or Kīlauea volcanoes. The event was the strongest in Hawaii since the 2018 magnitude-6.9 earthquake and one of the strongest recorded in the Hōnaunau area since the 1950s.
County officials said residents and businesses should report property damage so the county can identify priorities and focus resources if state or federal disaster assistance becomes available. Mayor Kimo Alameda urged people to inspect homes and businesses, including utilities, and to use caution around gas and electrical lines. For South Kona, the work ahead is no longer just about clearing roads. It is about documenting damage, restoring homes and determining how much of the quake’s cost will fall on individual families before outside aid can even be considered.
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