5.2 earthquake
rattles Big Island

HILO » A 5.2-magnitude undersea earthquake off the northeast coast of the Big Island yesterday morning shook police Capt. Edwin Rapozo at his home in Honokaa but did no damage, he said.

Rapozo was among people feeling the 5:48 a.m. quake primarily in East Hawaii, but other people reported feeling it as far away as Maui and Oahu.

The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said the quake was about five miles below sea level and centered about 30 miles north-northeast of Ookala, northwest of Hilo. No injuries or damages were reported.

The 5.2 magnitude is considered to be "moderate," observatory officials said, despite the quake being larger than many that jiggle the Big Island.

Observatory head Jim Kauahikaua said the quake was not associated with volcanic activity. A "slump," like a slow landslide, is shown on underwater maps of the area, but the depth of the quake puts it in the earth's crust, below the slump, he said.

The quake woke Makawao, Maui, resident Helen Souza as her husband, Mike, was getting ready for work.

"I felt it in my body," she said.

"It sounded like somebody was doing construction outside, like drilling or pounding, like a jackhammer."

Souza, who lives on Maha Road, said her husband did not feel it but later realized there had been an earthquake when he heard about it on the car radio.

Several Kailua residents also reported feeling the quake, but police and fire stations around the island said they did not receive any calls.

On the Big Island, Rapozo said the quake lasted several seconds, unlike another quake, at 5:01 a.m. Wednesday, which he felt as a single sharp jolt. Officials at the HVO said that quake was 3.4 magnitude and was located at Keanakolu, on Kilauea Volcano near Puu Oo inside Volcanoes National Park.

Besides Rapozo's police station in Honokaa, the Hilo station also said it received no reports of damage from the quake. Hawaii County Civil Defense received only two calls, neither reporting any damage.

The early-morning earthquake was followed by several small temblors in the same area. Yesterday's event was the largest in that area since a magnitude-6.2 earthquake on April 26, 1973, centered in Honomu, and was the largest in the state since a 5.6 quake on April 16, 1999, in Pahala, according to the observatory.