HAWAII has been rocked by a series of earthquakes off the coast of Oahu, with shaking and power outages reported but no tsunami warnings in effect.
The US Geological Survey said the area off was hit by a series of quakes, the strongest of which registered a magnitude of 6.3.
The USGS considers an earthquake of that magnitude to be strong.
There were no immediate reports of injuries, scattered reports of damage but power outages were widespread.
There is no tsunami warning in place, said Victor Sardina, a geophysicist at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.
We had a power supply outage and we're running on power backup, Sardina said by telephone.
This whole area was shaken up. It was pretty strong shaking.
Seismologists warned of aftershocks over the next 24 hours.
The Honolulu Advertiser reported on its that Honolulu International Airport was closed, there were landslides in Hamakua and Kealakekua and major damage at Kona Hospital, the Honokaa Long-term Care Facility and the Royal Kona Resort.
Several large hotels have been evacuated and tourists are waiting on the streets for more information, SKY News reported.
It is not known if any Australians are amongst the evacuated tourists.
Stuart Koyanagi, another geophysicist at the tsunami warning center, said the 6.3 magnitude earthquake was followed seven minutes later by a 5.
8 magnitude temblor.
John Sevick, a resident on the island of Hawaii, said his home suffered only a few broke plates and small sculptures, as well as a temporary loss of electricity.
I was out walking my two dogs and we were standing at the front of driveway when it hit.
It felt like we were dancing around for a few seconds, he told MSNBC.
Michael Poland, a geophysicist with the US Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, said the earthquake was likely the largest to hit Hawaii since 1989, and possibly the largest since an even larger one measuring 7.2 hit in 1975.
Those earthquakes struck less developed areas, Poland said.
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