6.0 Magnitude Earthquake | Hawaii May 22, 2026

Oh boy! This is really a news post just to get some words on paper, holy cow. I'm writing this three days later and quite honestly I still feel a little on edge / jumpy after the 6.0 magnitude earthquake that struck far too close to us on Friday night at 946pm. Looking out across from our lanai (deck) is our next-door neighbor's house now below us, which we used to have to look up to! Most of the houses around us are post & pier and built in the 1980's.

The earthquake struck at 946pm when most people are winding down for the night if not tucked up in bed already. It didn't help that at the time I was on the couch watching a TV series from the UK that was about terrorists in London setting off devices & explosions and suddenly boom I was like holy cow this is realistic.

Next door neighbor's house collapsed on it's footings

It really was more like the sound of an explosion, a real violent shake and I was straight off the couch and into the kitchen where every cupboard was opening and throwing items everywhere. Broken wine glasses and broken plates & bowls instantly. The fridge and freezer opened and shot contents onto the floor. I ran to our daughter's bedroom but she wasn't in bed so I had a mini panic but soon realized she had tucked up with mum in our bedroom all OK but very startled.

The shaking and noise eased off and I grabbed a flashlight which is next to the bed, maybe a habit from too many nights aboard on anchor! I ran outside to check on the neighbors and called out from our lanai to our next door neighbor, are you OK? She replied that she was OK and not hurt. I went up the footpath to our driveway shining the flashlight around and checking on our other neighbors. I couldn't believe it when I shone the light back around onto our next-door neighbour's house, something didn't look right. It took a second to register but the house was now at a 45' angle pointing to the sky, it had collapsed on it's footings and slid down the hill maybe 10-12ft stopping only as it settled onto their large 5,000 gallon water tank (we are in a neighborhood all on water catchment).

Neightbour's house on an angle

Our neighbor was inside her bedroom and said she was OK but couldn't open the door to get out. The power was down in the whole neighborhood, but we still had lights on, as did another neighbor as we both have solar and a Tesla battery. The neighbor's house had ripped the power line and meter off their wall and I'm not 100% sure just yet but I'm pretty positive one of the 3 propane tanks was venting as I could hear it hissing, probably the one that was hooked up to the stove.

We had to get her out soon and a neighbor brought over a 6ft step ladder and the two of them were able to climb up and onto the entrance/deck (again at a 45' angle) The front door was jammed shut so they made entry from the patio sliding glass doors that had popped out and found their way to the back bedroom. Within just a few minutes (while Katie was still on the phone with 911) they were all back out (with her dog) on the street, hugs all round and making sure no injuries.

Red marker points to the epicenter of the 6.0 magnitude earthquake

Red arrow points to our neighborhood, yellow circles are earthquakes

After a stiff cocktail and laying in bed around 1 am there was an aftershock and we were both like "oh no please not again". Fortunately, it was a small aftershock and we tried to get some rest. We had a lot of cleaning up to do the next morning in the kitchen and bathrooms, broken glass all over the place. The oven had even jumped 4-5 inches away from the wall.

We have checked on our foundations and have one to replace completely and some reinforcing to do to a few others but we were very lucky. Other houses in the neighborhood have snapped 4x4 posts or have shifted significantly on their footings. Several ruptured water tanks some that people were able to catch and isolate, but others dumped out their contents (up to 10,000 gallon tanks) and flooded whatever was below.

I think it will take a few more weeks for the full scale of the damage to be assessed as many residents were off island at the time.

Update 6/2/26

Hawaii County Civil Defense has received damage reports from over 300 residents, including 7 homes collapsed and around 90 with major structural damage. Also over 50 water catchment tanks either had liners fail or pipes burst.