Quake knocks out power in Hawaii

The US Geological Survey said the quake hit at 7:07 am (1707 GMT) near the island of Hawaii and was followed by at least a dozen aftershocks, the strongest a moderate 5.8 magnitude.

Governor Linda Lingle issued a disaster declaration, local media reported. She said in a radio interview that there had been no reports of deaths from the temblors in the Pacific island chain.

Sunday's quake is believed to be Hawaii's strongest since 1983, when a magnitude 6.7 quake hit Kaoiki, according to USGS.

Big Island Mayor Harry Kim said emergency assistance workers knew of no injuries.

He said 2,000 tourists would have to find new lodging.

"Resorts in Kona have to be evacuated because of water damage, as a precaution," he told local television station KITV, whose broadcast was shown on CNN.

Kona Community Hospital in Kona was evacuated, spokeswoman Terry Lewis said, but not because of structural damage.

"A lot of our ceilings in our medical-surgical unit have fallen in," she told CNN.

Extensive road damage on the island of Hawaii had made driving conditions dangerous. Officials called on residents and tourists to stay inside. CNN showed pictures of mudslides and boulders strewn across highways.

"We've had some major-to-heavy earthquake damage" to our infrastructure, Hawaii Civil Defence vice director Ed Teixeira told KITV.