HONOLULU, Jan. 7 (UPI) -- Things are getting rather hairy on Hawaii's Big Island. A little more than a week after a holiday snow storm blanketed the peaks of Hawaii with several inches, a series of small earthquakes rumbled across the island.
The two earthquakes were recorded Monday, the first registered a magnitude of 3.2, a few miles from Waikoloa in the north of the Island. The second, according to measurements by the U.S. Geological Survey, was a magnitude-3.1 quake; its epicenter was roughly 10 miles northeast of Ocean View, a community in the south of the island.
The quakes struck as lava breakouts emerged from the previously stalled Kilauea Volcano lava flow. The new flows have advanced several hundred feet in recent days, slowly making their way toward a shopping center in Pahoa on the east corner of the island.
While the flows still pose no immediate threat, officials are monitoring the situation closely. The lava has traveled some 13 miles since it first began flowing from Kilauea in June.
Meanwhile, power companies are still working to turn on the lights of those who lost electricity as a result of last week's winter storm. Nearly 50,000 people lost power on Big Island. While most power grids have since been restored, there were still a few hundred people without electricity Tuesday.
"We're hoping to have everyone up and running by tomorrow (Wednesday)," Hawaii Electric Light Co. spokeswoman Rhea Lee told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
