Portion of Pāhala Post Office closed because of earthquake damage

Two earthquakes that rattled the Big Island on Friday also caused damage to the Pāhala Post Office, forcing it to close its retail lobby indefinitely.

The post office reported damage to some of its interior light fixtures. The retail lobby will reopen as soon as postal management determines the facility is safe for employees and customers.

“We apologize for any inconveniences that this temporary closure causes and appreciate our customers’ understanding and support,” Pāhala Postmaster Gina Gomes said in a press release. “The safety of our employees, customers and the mail are our top priority. We will reopen our retail lobby as soon as we possibly can.”

During the closure, customers requiring retail services are asked to visit the Nāʻālehu, Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park or Volcano post offices.

Because the Pāhala facility’s PO box lobby was not impacted, mail delivery to the facility’s more than 600 PO box customers will continue without interruption.

The Pāhala Post Office is located at 96-3163 Pikake St. in Pāhala.

According to the Hawai‘i Emergency Management Agency Twitter feed, a 5.1-magnitude earthquake happened shortly after 9 a.m. Friday on the southeastern flank of Mauna Loa on the Big Island, about 5 miles south of Pāhala. That quake came shortly after a 4.6-magnitude temblor shook the same area, just less than 4 miles south-southwest of Pāhala.

Several other earthquakes in the 2- to 4-magnitude range continued after the two larger temblors.