Two earthquakes struck minutes apart in Hawaii and Indonesia moments ago. At 5:02pm local time / 6:02am ET, a violent 7.7 earthquake struck 48 miles north of Palu, Indonesia. Three minutes later, at 12:05am local time / 6:05am ET, a 3.7 earthquake struck 6 miles south-south-east of Kapaau on Hawaii’s Big Island. This quake occurred in the Kohala Mountains on the northwest coast of the island, on the opposite side of Kilauea.
The 7.7 earthquake in Indonesia was one of several that have rattled the region in the last hour. A 5.8 also occured at 5:25pm local time / 6:25am ET, a 5.8 at 5:14pm local time / 6:14am ET, and 5.0 at 3:24pm local time / 4:14am ET. The first earthquake destroyed some homes, killed one person and injured at least 10, authorities said. No reports of damage or deaths/injuries have surfaced yet from the larger quakes.
Indonesia’s meteorology agency issued an early tsunami warnings for people in Central Sulawesi and West Sulawesi provinces, asking people to evacuate to higher ground.
The earthquake in Hawaii was unrelated to the one in Indonesia, even though it struck three minutes later. Residents of Hawaii are reporting being shaken out of bed on social media, with two people in Waikoloa, Hawaii writing it was the “strongest jolt” they felt in that part of Hawaii. Based on historical data, an earthquake of this magnitude is unlikely to trigger a tsunami in Hawaii.
Hawaii has had thousands of earthquakes this year. In just the last 24 hours, 15 earthquakes greater than 1.5 shook the Aloha State. In the last 7 days, 66 quakes struck. In the last 30 days, 302 earthquakes struck. And over the last year, 42,519 struck Hawaii, with most tied to the recent Kilauea eruption event that peaked in July. Tied to that event, a 6.9 quake rattled Hawaii’s Big Island on May 4, making it the biggest earthquake in the U.S. so far this year.
