Magnitude 4.9 quake shakes Big Island, no tsunami threat reported

A magnitude-4.9 earthquake jolted eastern Hawaii Island early Wednesday, sending shaking across parts of the Big Island and possibly Maui, but the first checks showed no tsunami threat and no major damage. The U.S. Geological Survey later placed the quake 23 kilometers east of Pāpa‘ikou at 8:37:40 a.m. UTC, at a depth of 39.2 kilometers, while the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said no warning, advisory, watch or threat was in effect.

The event was widely felt. USGS’s Did You Feel It? page logged 808 responses, a sign that the shaking reached a broad swath of residents even without immediate reports of serious destruction. For people who felt the jolt, the practical next step was to inspect homes, yards and work sites for cracked walls, shifted appliances, broken water lines, fallen objects and any other damage that could become a hazard if aftershocks followed.

The quake arrived less than three weeks after the magnitude-6.0 Kona earthquake on May 22, which Governor Josh Green said caused extensive damage to homes, potable and non-potable water systems, government facilities and other property in Kaū, North Kona and South Kona. Mayor C. Kimo Alameda declared a local state of emergency on May 27 as county and state officials dealt with the damage across the island’s west side.

Hawaii Emergency Management Agency has long said earthquakes are common on Hawaii Island because the island sits over the Hawaiian mantle plume hotspot and is cut by numerous faults and rifts, especially around Mauna Loa and Kīlauea. The agency also points to the 1989 magnitude-6.1 Kalapana earthquake, when a home collapsed, as a reminder that even moderate shaking can turn dangerous fast on the Big Island. Wednesday’s quake did not trigger a tsunami response, but it reinforced a familiar reality for island residents: after the shaking stops, the inspection starts.