More than 70 earthquakes in a seismic swarm around Kamaʻehuakanaloa, formerly Lōʻihi Seamount: Maui Now

According to the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, the Kamaʻehuakanaloa volcano (formerly the Lōʻihi Seamount) offshore southeast of the island of Hawaii entered a period of increased seismic unrest at approximately 6 p.m. HST on Friday, November 1. Although seismicity decreased slightly around midnight, earthquake rates remain above background levels on Saturday.

As a status update, the HVO announced that there have been over 70 earthquakes in this swarm to date, including 32 events greater than magnitude 2 and two events greater than magnitude 4. The largest earthquake was a magnitude 4.3 event that occurred on Saturday occurred at 12:00 p.m.: 5:00 p.m. HST, at a depth of 5.8 km (3.6 miles) below sea level and 4.8 km (3.0 miles) below the summit of the volcano. The USGS has only received one felt report from the island of Hawaii for this event.

Increased seismicity continues in Kamaʻehuakanaloa, but is not expected to affect other volcanoes or infrastructure on Hawaii Island, HVO reports. “The source of the earthquakes is currently difficult to determine, but it may be related to the movement of magma beneath Kamaʻehuakanaloa. Previous swarms associated with likely volcano eruptions consisted of thousands of earthquakes over days to weeks. The eruptive activity of this volcano would have no impact on the residents of the island of Hawaii,” said the HVO.

The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory continues to monitor Kamaʻehuakanaloa and will provide further updates as needed if there are any significant changes in activity.