HILO (HawaiiNewsNow) – Hawaii County Mayor Kimo Alameda expects to declare a disaster after Friday night’s 6.0 magnitude earthquake.

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

Alameda said damage reports have come from across the island, mostly in South Kona, where the county is asking residents to reduce water usage by at least 10 percent.

The affected areas are: Honalo, Kainaliu, Keei, Kealakekua, Nāpō’opo’o, Hōnaunau, Ho’okena, and South Kona.

Hawai’i island residents said they are used to earthquakes, but some said Friday’s 6.0 magnitude quake shook their homes for up to a minute.

Homes destroyed, water systems compromised

The county said out of roughly 200 damage reports, two or more homes have been destroyed and one had major damage.

“Numerous reports categorizing as major all the way to minor to destroyed. And so and as we speak, reports keep coming in. There’s also up to 200, potentially up to 200 catchment tanks. That’s our water tanks that could be compromised as well. And that’s very important because water water is life,” Alameda said.

The Morris and Silsley family in Kaohe just moved into their newly built home with their two young children and have a baby on the way, but the earthquake rocked the home off its foundation, damaging floors and walls and snapping their deck in half.

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

One resident said the earthquake tipped his water tank and the aftershocks toppled it over.

“It woke us up because the whole tank fell and hit the house and was dumping out the water,” said Jacob.

The president of WaterWorks Hawaii, Verne Wood, said 120 people have purchased parts for repairs to their catchment systems, while hundreds of people have called for help.

“I have to say that this is the largest impact that we’ve seen from an earthquake. There have been other earthquake events, but it wasn’t as localized and it wasn’t as intense. And of course, the numbers of people that are now on catchment systems is a lot greater now than it was 15, 20 years ago,” Verne Wood said.

Another company, Pacific Blue Catchment, is dealing with 200 reports of their own. Owner/founder Corey Yeaton predicts fixes could take months.

Alameda is asking all residents to report damage to the Hawaii County Civil Defense website or call 808-935-0031.

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