A magnitude 5.5 earthquake shook the Kilauea summit, resulting in an ash plume that reached up to 8,000 feet, according to Hawaii County Civil Defense.  The earthquake happened at 3:51 p.m. local Sunday, according to the US Geological Survey. It did not cause a tsunami threat, according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.

But the Hawaii Civil Defense Agency said the fallout will affect the volcano and Pahala areas, and cautioned about the possibility of aftershocks. There were 500 quakes in the summit area of Kilauea in a 24-hour period over the weekend — the highest rate ever measured at the summit area, according to Brian Shiro, supervisory geophysicist at the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. READ MORE