An urgent volcano review has been launched after a huge earthquake rocked Hawaii overnight.
The 6.0-magnitude quake struck around 3.7 miles south of Honauna on the Big Island of Hawaii.
Its epicenter was at a depth of 14 miles, along the western side of Mauna Loa.
Experts are now assessing the active Kilauea volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island, which has been erupting since December 2024, according to the United States Geological Survey.
Just hours before the quake, experts from the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory predicted the volcano would erupt in just days, between May 24 and 27.
Luckily, a tsunami was not triggered by the earthquake, but residents reported they felt “shaking” across the island.
The earthquake hit at 9.46pm local time and was then followed by a smaller 3.2 magnitude earthquake just minutes later.
One resident said: “I was in the kitchen and the entire apartment just started shaking.”
Another resident said the “terrifying” effects of the quake felt “like something out of a movie".
She said: “My son was crawling on the floor, so my mum had to stand over my son and shield him because all the glass was coming out of the cabinets and falling on the floor.
A 6.0 magnitude earthquake rocked Hawaii's Big Island shortly before 10 p.m. Friday night, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The earthquake came amid USGS monitoring of Kilauea, an active volcano on Hawaii's Big Island that experts expect to erupt again in the coming days after a recent series of eruptions throughout May.
Friday night's earthquake occurred about 7 miles south of Hōnaunau-Nāpōʻopoʻo, a town on the southwest coast of Hawaii, according to the USGS.
"The depth, location, and recorded seismic waves of the earthquake suggest that it was caused by stress due to bending of the oceanic plate from the weight of the Hawaiian island chain," the USGS said in a statement.
Strong to very strong shaking was reported on the west side of the Island of Hawaii, and the earthquake resulted in several aftershocks. Over 2,500 residents submitted reports to USGS indicating they felt the strong shaking from the event.
While the USGS said the earthquake was unrelated to Kilauea's eruptions, the agency continues to monitor the volcano, which it expects to erupt again between May 24 and May 27.
No tsunami warning has been issued in relation to the earthquake, according to the USGS.
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