Beginning about 03:00 local time on 11 May and continuing through the morning on 12 May, HVO detected more than 100 earthquakes beneath the volcano, including 79 magnitude-2 (M2) and 19 magnitude-3 (M3) and above. This is a significant increase above long term background rates of fewer than 3 earthquakes per day at Loihi, generally with magnitudes less than 2. The number of earthquakes peaked at 14 per hour between 13:00 and 14:00 local time on 11 May and decreased thereafter. Since the early morning hours on 12 May, earthquake rates have been less than 4 per hour.
The earthquake swarm is located beneath the southeast rift zone and southeastern flank of Loihi at depths of 11,800-40,682 ft (3,600-12,400 m) below sea level. [less]

Since late May, the volcano hidden beneath the Pacific south of Big Island has been showing markedly increased seismic activity. Several earthquake swarms were detected under the volcano. Read more... read all