Note:This page contains AI-generated content for informational and entertainment purposes only. It may contain inaccuracies. Raw event data is from USGS and EMSC. All statistics, lists, and derived information are generated by this site. Full disclaimerFound an error?
Location:
4 km E of P?hala, Hawaii
Period:
4 May 2020 02:07:11 - 16 Jul 2020 14:21:09 (73 days 12 hours 13 minutes)
Volcanoes in 100km radius:
Kilauea(25km), Mauna Loa(35km), Kama'ehuakanaloa(36km), Mauna Kea(66km), Hualalai(71km)
Earthquakes:
948
125 swarms found nearby.
2000
S20000224.1(27.9km)
23 Feb
8 days 11 hours
216 earthquakes
S20000425.1(20.5km)
24 Apr
2 days 22 hours
63 earthquakes
VS20000505.1(24.3km)
5 May
7 days 4 hours
212 earthquakes
2001
VS20010521.1(28.5km)
20 May
1 day 11 hours
28 earthquakes
2003
VS20030624.1(25.0km)
23 Jun
2 days 20 hours
43 earthquakes
VS20030712.1(29.4km)
12 Jul
1 day 19 hours
34 earthquakes
VS20030715.1(21.7km)
15 Jul
1 day 6 hours
31 earthquakes
VS20030805.1(23.3km)
4 Aug
1 day 22 hours
31 earthquakes
VS20030809.1(25.5km)
8 Aug
7 days 14 hours
101 earthquakes
VS20031119.1(22.8km)
18 Nov
3 days 20 hours
64 earthquakes
VS20031211.1(24.4km)
10 Dec
3 days 20 hours
97 earthquakes
2004
VS20040113.1(23.8km)
12 Jan
18 hours
25 earthquakes
VS20041103.1(22.3km)
2 Nov
1 day 1 hours
30 earthquakes
VS20041110.1(28.4km)
9 Nov
24 days 3 hours
334 earthquakes
VS20041214.1(23.0km)
14 Dec
1 day 0 hours
32 earthquakes
S20041223.1(24.5km)
22 Dec
2 days 4 hours
32 earthquakes
2005
VS20050125.1(23.7km)
24 Jan
15 days 23 hours
208 earthquakes
2006
VS20060202.1(25.6km)
1 Feb
35 days 15 hours
821 earthquakes
VS20060312.1(24.7km)
11 Mar
3 days 5 hours
41 earthquakes
2007
S20070524.1(21.2km)
24 May
10 days 11 hours
114 earthquakes
S20070617.1(24.2km)
17 Jun
14 days 13 hours
411 earthquakes
S20070704.1(25.3km)
3 Jul
18 days 14 hours
216 earthquakes
2008
VS20081205.1(21.9km)
4 Dec
28 days 3 hours
473 earthquakes
2011
S20110204.1(22.3km)
3 Feb
14 days 16 hours
387 earthquakes
S20110302.1(24.5km)
1 Mar
7 days 9 hours
325 earthquakes
2012
VS20120223.1(25.8km)
22 Feb
3 days 4 hours
80 earthquakes
S20120529.2(24.2km)
28 May
5 days 8 hours
67 earthquakes
S20120605.1(26.6km)
4 Jun
4 days 4 hours
37 earthquakes
S20121025.1(24.8km)
24 Oct
10 days 1 hours
134 earthquakes
2013
S20130113.1(23.0km)
13 Jan
4 days 3 hours
63 earthquakes
2014
VS20140218.1(25.0km)
17 Feb
3 days 0 hours
53 earthquakes
VS20140514.1(18.8km)
13 May
4 days 23 hours
58 earthquakes
2015
VS20150224.1(20.7km)
23 Feb
3 days 17 hours
72 earthquakes
S20150423.1(21.4km)
22 Apr
25 days 2 hours
2099 earthquakes
S20151016.1(19.8km)
15 Oct
3 days 4 hours
45 earthquakes
S20151025.1(10.5km)
24 Oct
3 days 14 hours
70 earthquakes
2016
S20160824.2(23.7km)
24 Aug
2 days 3 hours
38 earthquakes
S20161125.1(21.9km)
24 Nov
4 days 12 hours
47 earthquakes
2017
VS20170305.1(24.5km)
4 Mar
2 days 10 hours
48 earthquakes
S20170608.2(28.1km)
8 Jun
3 days 10 hours
47 earthquakes
2018
VS20180307.1(24.0km)
6 Mar
2 days 12 hours
95 earthquakes
VS20180411.1(21.1km)
10 Apr
2 days 11 hours
153 earthquakes
VS20180417.1(17.0km)
16 Apr
1 day 23 hours
40 earthquakes
VS20180423.1(23.1km)
22 Apr
7 days 19 hours
134 earthquakes
S20180501.1(25.5km)
30 Apr
103 days 22 hours
42368 earthquakes
1 May
8 days 9 hours
196 earthquakes
4 May
3 days 4 hours
153 earthquakes
2 Jul
2 days 1 hours
30 earthquakes
2019
18 Aug
17 days 16 hours
217 earthquakes
VS20190903.1(26.4km)
2 Sep
1 day 11 hours
58 earthquakes
VS20191001.1(23.2km)
30 Sep
2 days 8 hours
35 earthquakes
13 Nov
27 days 22 hours
335 earthquakes
2020
3 Jan
106 days 22 hours
1689 earthquakes
S20200302.1(29.7km)
1 Mar
4 days 18 hours
82 earthquakes
VS20200317.1(23.3km)
16 Mar
3 days 2 hours
34 earthquakes
22 Jul
18 days 5 hours
194 earthquakes
20 Aug
33 days 8 hours
392 earthquakes
VS20200904.1(23.5km)
3 Sep
1 day 6 hours
64 earthquakes
20 Oct
2 days 12 hours
37 earthquakes
VS20201023.1(25.1km)
22 Oct
7 days 18 hours
177 earthquakes
2 Nov
28 days 6 hours
288 earthquakes
VS20201118.1(25.7km)
18 Nov
1 day 8 hours
43 earthquakes
VS20201130.1(24.3km)
29 Nov
1 day 0 hours
88 earthquakes
VS20201202.1(23.9km)
1 Dec
23 days 2 hours
641 earthquakes
24 Dec
39 days 23 hours
662 earthquakes
2021
S20210205.1(27.4km)
4 Feb
25 days 20 hours
475 earthquakes
2 Mar
443 days 21 hours
9245 earthquakes
S20210318.1(26.4km)
18 Mar
2 days 15 hours
113 earthquakes
VS20210624.1(22.6km)
23 Jun
3 days 0 hours
45 earthquakes
S20210706.1(25.0km)
6 Jul
21 hours
30 earthquakes
VS20210805.1(23.7km)
4 Aug
8 days 18 hours
279 earthquakes
VS20210823.1(21.7km)
23 Aug
7 days 7 hours
859 earthquakes
30 Aug
2 days 9 hours
94 earthquakes
VS20210904.1(21.8km)
3 Sep
3 days 11 hours
37 earthquakes
S20210927.3(19.3km)
27 Sep
4 days 6 hours
168 earthquakes
2022
VS20220107.1(24.4km)
6 Jan
1 day 23 hours
52 earthquakes
VS20220110.1(24.5km)
9 Jan
5 days 9 hours
182 earthquakes
VS20220116.1(23.1km)
15 Jan
1 day 4 hours
26 earthquakes
27 May
7 days 0 hours
110 earthquakes
19 Jun
244 days 22 hours
3458 earthquakes
VS20220921.1(24.9km)
20 Sep
1 day 1 hours
100 earthquakes
VS20221231.1(21.0km)
30 Dec
3 days 6 hours
44 earthquakes
2023
VS20230105.1(25.9km)
5 Jan
2 days 4 hours
67 earthquakes
23 Mar
60 days 21 hours
740 earthquakes
VS20230413.1(20.2km)
13 Apr
2 days 14 hours
48 earthquakes
VS20230419.1(25.2km)
19 Apr
25 days 21 hours
422 earthquakes
VS20230520.1(22.8km)
20 May
6 days 18 hours
135 earthquakes
27 May
7 days 18 hours
89 earthquakes
VS20230531.1(22.1km)
30 May
5 days 7 hours
108 earthquakes
VS20230607.2(24.2km)
6 Jun
1 day 9 hours
84 earthquakes
VS20230814.1(23.1km)
13 Aug
5 days 3 hours
331 earthquakes
VS20230822.1(18.3km)
21 Aug
21 days 21 hours
552 earthquakes
VS20231005.1(19.3km)
4 Oct
7 days 22 hours
244 earthquakes
S20231018.1(21.9km)
17 Oct
2 days 10 hours
35 earthquakes
20 Oct
11 days 13 hours
165 earthquakes
S20231026.1(23.1km)
26 Oct
2 days 8 hours
62 earthquakes
S20231113.1(21.0km)
12 Nov
11 days 4 hours
175 earthquakes
S20231120.1(23.6km)
20 Nov
1 day 23 hours
71 earthquakes
VS20231124.1(24.2km)
24 Nov
2 days 7 hours
79 earthquakes
1 Dec
2 days 5 hours
49 earthquakes
S20231207.1(25.7km)
6 Dec
10 days 10 hours
136 earthquakes
S20231208.1(10.6km)
7 Dec
2 days 13 hours
59 earthquakes
S20231213.2(22.2km)
12 Dec
1 day 4 hours
38 earthquakes
28 Dec
4 days 20 hours
173 earthquakes
2024
27 Jan
30 days 9 hours
1836 earthquakes
S20240209.1(11.5km)
8 Feb
4 days 17 hours
200 earthquakes
12 Mar
6 days 16 hours
103 earthquakes
VS20240406.1(22.4km)
5 Apr
2 days 22 hours
42 earthquakes
VS20240416.1(24.4km)
15 Apr
4 days 17 hours
130 earthquakes
VS20240425.1(26.6km)
24 Apr
17 days 10 hours
864 earthquakes
VS20240517.1(27.9km)
16 May
5 days 0 hours
198 earthquakes
S20240602.2(23.2km)
2 Jun
9 days 16 hours
450 earthquakes
VS20240622.1(24.4km)
21 Jun
28 days 3 hours
902 earthquakes
S20240721.1(10.0km)
20 Jul
33 days 8 hours
1535 earthquakes
S20240817.1(25.5km)
16 Aug
25 days 7 hours
751 earthquakes
S20240912.1(24.3km)
11 Sep
13 days 12 hours
711 earthquakes
3 Dec
7 days 5 hours
138 earthquakes
VS20241214.1(24.5km)
13 Dec
7 days 8 hours
90 earthquakes
19 Dec
1 day 19 hours
42 earthquakes
VS20241223.1(24.2km)
23 Dec
19 hours
35 earthquakes
2026
14 Jan
7 days 3 hours
84 earthquakes
S20260120.2(22.7km)
19 Jan
1 day 15 hours
29 earthquakes
S20260410.1(25.5km)
9 Apr
1 day 1 hours
25 earthquakes
VS20260429.1(24.8km)
28 Apr
9 days 19 hours
120 earthquakes
30 Jun
2 days 1 hours
35 earthquakes
AI-generated article — for informational and entertainment purposes only. May contain inaccuracies. Full disclaimerFound an error?

Seismic Swarm S20200504.1: Analysis of Activity Near Pāhala, Hawaii

Seismic swarm S20200504.1 was recorded 4 km east of Pāhala on Hawaii’s Big Island. The sequence began at 02:07 on 4 May 2020 and concluded at 14:21 on 16 July 2020. Over 1764 hours and 13 minutes, 948 earthquakes were detected.

The first 100 events displayed consistent characteristics. Magnitudes ranged primarily between 1.7 and 2.7, with the largest reaching 3.2. Focal depths clustered tightly around 30–36 km, indicating a deep source typical of Hawaiian volcanic systems. One outlier occurred at 8 km depth on 5 May. Early activity on 4 May showed a rapid succession of events, including multiple magnitude-2+ shocks within hours, followed by a steady rate of smaller events through 8 May.

Pāhala lies on the south flank of Kīlauea volcano within the active East Rift Zone. The region experiences frequent seismicity driven by magma movement, gravitational spreading of the volcanic edifice, and interaction with the underlying hotspot. Earthquake swarms here commonly reflect fluid migration or pressure changes at mid-crustal depths rather than tectonic fault rupture.

Historical records document 55 swarms in the area since 1 January 2000. Annual counts vary, with notable peaks in 2003 (7 swarms), 2018 (8 swarms), and lower activity in intervening years such as 2005 and 2013 (1 swarm each). This pattern underscores the persistent volcanic influence on local seismicity.

The 2020 swarm fits established behavior for the Pāhala region, where deep, low-magnitude sequences often precede or accompany changes in eruptive activity at nearby vents. Depths near 32 km align with the base of the volcanic crust, a zone frequently linked to magma storage and transport beneath the island.

Continued monitoring remains essential given Hawaii’s dynamic geology. Swarms provide valuable indicators of subsurface processes that may influence future volcanic or seismic hazards.

References

USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory earthquake catalog
Hawaii Seismic Network historical swarm records