Final answer:
Earthquakes in Hawaii are primarily caused by hot spot volcanism, where the Earth's plates move over a stationary hotspot in the mantle, leading to volcanic activity and earthquakes independent of plate boundaries like rift or subduction zones.
Step-by-step explanation:
Earthquakes in Hawaii are mostly related to hot spot volcanism. This geological process occurs as the Earth's plates move over stationary hotspots, which are areas of intense heat from the mantle. The Hawaiian hotspot is one of the best-known examples and has been creating the Hawaiian island chain through volcanic activity for at least 100 million years. As the Pacific Plate moves over the Hawaiian hotspot, magma rises to the surface and cools to form new landmasses. This tectonic and volcanic activity is not driven by continental drift, as the islands are far from the edges of the Pacific Plate and are not at the boundary of converging or diverging plates.
Unlike typical earthquake occurrences at rift and subduction zones, associated with plate tectonics, the earthquakes in Hawaii are the result of the movement and fracturing of crust above this deep mantle plume. The immense pressure from upwelling magma can cause faults in the overlying plate, triggering earthquakes, which are often accompanied by volcanic eruptions. Therefore, Hawaii's seismic activity is a direct consequence of its hotspot location, not traditional plate boundary interactions such as subduction or spreading.