Three small earthquakes late last night shook much of the Big Island, but there were no reports of injuries or damage, police said.

The largest of the earthquakes occurred at 10:08 p.m. seven miles south-southwest of the Kilauea summit. The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reported the quake was measured at magnitude 4.3.

Two minutes later, a magnitude 2.7 quake was reported in the same area, followed a minute later by a magnitude 3.0 earthquake.

None of the earthquakes was strong enough to generate a tsunami, said Hawai'i County Mayor Harry Kim, who was serving as acting director of the county's civil defense agency last night. He said his agency received about a dozen calls after the quakes.

Kim said at magnitude 4.3, the largest of the quakes was relatively light. But he said police and his agency received calls from across the island to report the earthquake.

"For that size earthquake, surprisingly it was widely felt throughout our island," Kim said.

Kim served as civil defense administrator for 24 years before being elected mayor four years ago. He said Big Island residents usually aren't rattled by small earthquakes, but a recent flurry of small earthquakes seem to have people on edge.

"Earthquake is a way of life here," he said. "In the old days, (a magnitude) 4 wouldn't generate any interest."

Horst Sollfrank, a resident of Hawaiian Ocean View Estates, said last night's quakes felt stronger than those a week ago. "It rattled the whole house," he said.