M4.2 earthquake 9 km SW of Volcano, Hawaii

A magnitude 4.2 earthquake struck 9 km SW of Volcano, Hawaii on Tue, Oct 27, 1981, 11:33 PM HST (09:33 UTC), 32 km (20 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M4.5 12 km SSE of Volcano, Hawaii. This one was a foreshock.

Map

Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.

Different scales measure different things and differ by a few tenths. The USGS marks one as preferred, and it is the one this page uses.

Mag.	Scale	Computed by	Notes
4.16	ML, local (Richter)	Hawaiian Volcano Observatory	Preferred · Final · ±0.25 · 4 stations
4.2	mb, body-wave	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Reviewed · 1 stations

The USGS’s account of the effects of this earthquake.

Felt.

From the USGS event page for hv19813580. U.S. Geological Survey text and figures are in the public domain.

No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.

Within 100 km, magnitude 1.5 and up: 197 in the 60 days after this one and 177 in the 30 days before it.

The first 60 of 197.

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event hv19813580 (also filed as usp0001gpx). Read Sat, Oct 3, 2026, 8:29 AM UTC.