Hawaii's Big Island Rocked By 5.0 Magnitude Earthquake
(CNN) -- After a day filled with hundreds of small earthquakes, a magnitude 5.0 temblor rocked the eastern side of Big Island, prompting concerns that Kilauea Volcano could erupt.
The temblor Thursday is the latest and largest in a series of hundreds of small earthquakes to shake the island's active volcano, Kilauea, since the Puu Oo vent crater floor collapsed and caused magma to rush into new underground chambers.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center says the earthquake centered about 3.5-miles deep on the south flank of Kilauea was not strong enough to trigger a tsunami.
Residents in the area should prepare and review emergency plans in case of evacuation, warned the Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency on Wednesday.
Officials are keeping watch on Kilauea, which is one of the world's most active volcanoes.
It's located in the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, which has since closed off nearly 15,700 acres due to "the possibility of a new eruption and unstable geologic activity." But most of the park remains open, according to its statement.
Since Monday, hundreds of earthquakes -- most of them around 2.0 magnitude -- have been recorded in the area. The series of earthquakes came after a collapse of a crater floor of Puʻu ʻŌʻō, which is a volcanic cone in the eastern rift zone of the Kīlauea Volcano.
Since that collapse, about 250 earthquakes were reported in the area into Tuesday evening, according to Hawaiian Volcano Observatory status report.
The tremors have been going on for days now, jarring residents, who've been reporting nearly constant ground vibrations in some areas.
"It has now become unnerving," Carol Shepard, a resident, told CNN affiliate KHON.
She said the flurry of earthquakes seemed to happen every minute.
"It'd be like the house would shake. It'd be like somebody that weighs 300 pounds came in my living room, and jumped up and down," she said.
Residents in the area have also reported cracks emerging on roads.
The US Geological Survey said no steam or heat were seen escaping from the cracks, and they were small -- about several inches across. These cracks are appearing from "deformation of the ground surface due to the underlying intrusion of magma" -- which is molten rock that is underground, according to the agency.
"An outbreak of lava from the lower East Rift Zone remains a possible outcome of the continued unrest," according to USGS in a Wednesday night update. "At this time it is not possible to say with certainty if or where such an outbreak may occur, but the area downrift (east) of Pu'u 'Ō'ō remains the most likely location."
It's not possible to predict where an eruption could occur, but the areas that could be affected include the communities of Nanawale Estates, Leilani Estates or Kapoho, the Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency stated.
It urged residents to prepare emergency plans and to stay informed for updates.
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