The moment the earthquake hits, captured on camera in Mountain View

HILO, Hawaii – Big Island Video News has obtained video taken in Mountain View (courtesy Hawaii247.com) at the moment a magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck the Big Island on Tuesday afternoon. It doesn’t look like much, but you can hear the violent shaking of the home. Some birds can be seen in the footage, scrambling when the quake hits.

The United States Geological Survey initially measured the quake at a magnitude 5.6, but later lowered that number a bit. The USGS centered the earthquake in the Pacific Ocean, 33 miles southeast of Pahala. No tsunami was generated, as Hawaii County Civil Defense reported in an emergency notification that was issued shortly after.

The temblor was felt across Hawaii Island. The USGS “Did you feel it?” Web site received more than 400 felt reports within the first hour of the earthquake. Some date collected near Hilo showed “strong” shaking and “light” damage

The incident sent local users of social media chattering away, describing how and where they felt the quake.

Not much damage reported, but Mitzi Sevilla commented on our website through Facebook that they have a huge horizontal crack in the condo wall at Banyan drive.

Holly Johnson in Pahoa said it sounded like a “giant grabbed hold” of her roof and started shaking it.

Samuel Adams felt the quake at the Kealakekua courthouse.

Jewel Shell said she felt it. She lives above the Kona Airport on Kaiminani Drive.

The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory issued a media release afterwards.

According to Wes Thelen, HVO’s Seismic Network Manager, the earthquake was located 12 miles east of Lo`ihi, but it does not appear to be associated with the submarine volcano. Thelen said the earthquake was “most likely a structural adjustment of the Earth’s crust due to the weight of Hawai‘i Island on the underlying mantle”.

HVO’s seismic records show that another earthquake of similar magnitude and depth occurred in this same general area in 2005.

HVO geologist Tim Orr said that the earthquake had no apparent effect on Kilauea’s ongoing eruptions. He said monitoring networks have not detected any significant changes in activity at the summits or rift zones of Kilauea or other Hawaiian volcanoes.

Map shows epicenter, taken from USGS Pager information