Location:

Period:

10 May 2018 04:20:21 - 11 May 2018 00:16:27 (19 hours 56 minutes)

Volcanoes in 100km radius:

Kilauea(43km), Mauna Kea(72km), Kama'ehuakanaloa(75km), Mauna Loa(77km)

Earthquakes:

6 swarms found nearby.

2003

VS20031206.1(23.5km)

5 Dec

3 days 21 hours

63 earthquakes

2007

S20070814.1(25.5km)

13 Aug

7 days 4 hours

87 earthquakes

2011

S20110223.1(29.6km)

22 Feb

5 days 0 hours

117 earthquakes

S20110311.1(20.6km)

11 Mar

1 day 1 hours

26 earthquakes

2018

S20180505.1(24.0km)

4 May

18 days 23 hours

726 earthquakes

VS20180602.1(12.7km)

2 Jun

7 days 12 hours

119 earthquakes

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Seismic Swarm S20180510.1 Near Nanawale Estates, Hawaii

Seismic swarm S20180510.1 was recorded 5 km east-southeast of Nanawale Estates on the Island of Hawaii. The sequence began at 04:20 on 10 May 2018 and concluded at 00:16 on 11 May 2018, spanning 19 hours and 56 minutes. During this interval, 64 earthquakes were registered.

The events clustered at shallow depths, predominantly between 0 and 3 km, with occasional deeper occurrences reaching 9 km. Magnitudes ranged from 1.3 to 2.9. Early activity included events of magnitude 2.3 at 04:20 and 2.5 at 04:34, both at 1 km depth. Subsequent shocks maintained a similar pattern, with several magnitude 2.6–2.7 events occurring through the morning and afternoon of 10 May. Later phases featured peaks at magnitude 2.9 at 13:24 and 17:26, followed by additional magnitude 2.7 events near midnight.

This swarm occurred within the Puna District, a region underlain by the East Rift Zone of Kīlauea volcano. The area forms part of the Hawaiian-Emperor volcanic chain, created by the Pacific Plate moving over a stationary hotspot. Kīlauea’s rift zones are characterized by frequent intrusions of magma that induce brittle failure along pre-existing fractures, producing earthquake swarms rather than isolated mainshock-aftershock sequences.

Since 1 January 2000, five swarms have been documented in the immediate vicinity. Prior episodes occurred in 2003 (one swarm), 2007 (one swarm), and 2011 (two swarms). The 2018 event represents the fifth and most recent in this 18-year record, underscoring the recurrent nature of clustered seismicity along the rift.

Such swarms typically reflect short-term adjustments to magmatic pressure or slip on volcanic flank faults. Depths consistently less than 10 km align with the brittle-ductile transition beneath the rift, where rock temperatures permit fracturing. No single event exceeded magnitude 3.0, consistent with the swarm-type behavior observed in previous episodes.

References

United States Geological Survey, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, Kīlauea eruption history and seismic monitoring data.
SeismoSight internal classification records for swarm S20180510.1.