Hawaii County mayor expects disaster declaration after 6.0 earthquake

HILO (HawaiiNewsNow) – Hawaii County Mayor Kimo Alameda expects a disaster declaration following Friday night’s 6.0 Richter scale earthquake.

He said there have been as many as 200 reports of damage so far, and the numbers are rising.

Alameda said reports of damage came from all over the island, mostly in South Kona, where the county is asking residents to reduce water use by at least 10 percent.

The affected areas are: Honalu, Kainaleu, Kiei, Kealakekua, Napopupo, Honaunau, Hokena, and South Kona.

Hawaii Island residents said they were used to earthquakes, but some said Friday’s 6.0-magnitude quake shook their homes for up to a minute.

Of the nearly 200 damage reports, two or more homes were destroyed and one sustained major damage, the county said.

“There are many reports that are classified from major destruction all the way to small destruction. And so, as we speak, the reports keep coming in. There are also up to 200, potentially up to 200 tanks. These are our water tanks that could be at risk as well. This is very important because water is life,” Alameda said.

The Morris and Silsley family in Kauhi had just moved into their newly built home with their two young children and a baby on the way, but the earthquake shook the house to its foundation, damaging floors and walls and breaking its roof in half.

“It was devastating. All I could think about was getting the kids and Asia out to safety,” Cody Selsley said. “She did fall. She fell about five feet. Asia is pregnant. She fell a little. I was just worried about her getting up. Get the kids out. Let’s get out of here safe.”

One resident said that the earthquake caused his water tank to overturn and the aftershocks toppled it.

“We woke up because the whole tank fell and hit the house and was draining,” Jacob said.

WaterWorks Hawaii President Vern Wood said 120 people have purchased parts to repair their watershed systems, while hundreds of people have asked for help.

“I have to say this is the largest impact we’ve seen from an earthquake. There have been other earthquake events, but they haven’t been localized and they haven’t been this severe. And of course, the numbers of people in the watershed systems are much greater now than they were 15 or 20 years ago,” Fern Wood said.

Another company, Pacific Blue Catchment, is handling 200 reports of its own. Owner/founder Corey Yeaton expects repairs could take months.

Alameda asks all residents to report damage to the Hawaii County Civil Defense site or call 808-935-0031.

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