Reviewed by USGSTonga75y ago
M6.5 earthquake 124 km SSE of Hihifo, Tonga
Monday, February 25, 1952, 01:17:09 UTC · 17.005°S, 173.369°W
A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck 124 km SSE of Hihifo, Tonga on Monday, February 25, 1952, 01:17:09 UTC, at a depth of 41.8 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.7 on November 27, 1949.
- Magnitude
- 6.5
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 42 km
- Shallow
- Felt reports
- 0
- Did You Feel It?
- Est. shaking
- —
- No ShakeMap
- PAGER alert
- None
- Not issued
- Tsunami
- No flag
- USGS feed
Outlined circle: this earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
74 kilotons of TNT
That is about 5 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 155 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
109 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Tonga and Pacific plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
Depth: shallow
42 km
Shallow earthquakes (under 70 km) produce the strongest surface shaking for their size, so they are the ones most likely to cause damage near the epicenter.
Did You Feel It?
Where it was felt
No “Did You Feel It?” reports have been published for this event yet. If you felt it, you can add your report on the USGS website.
I felt it — report to USGS ↗USGS PAGER estimate
Who was exposed to shaking
USGS publishes PAGER impact estimates for significant earthquakes, usually within an hour. No PAGER estimate is available for this event.
After the main event
Aftershocks within 100 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 100 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 66 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.11919 Tonga EarthquakeApril 30, 1919 · 176 km SE of this epicenter
- 8.0The 1917 Samoa-Tonga EarthquakeJune 26, 1917 · 224 km N of this epicenter
- 7.4103 km ESE of Neiafu, TongaFebruary 27, 1921 · 214 km S of this epicenter
- 7.385 km ESE of Neiafu, TongaJanuary 2, 1907 · 230 km S of this epicenter
- 7.2108 km SE of Neiafu, TongaDecember 19, 1906 · 248 km S of this epicenter
- 6.9127 km S of Hihifo, TongaMay 8, 1913 · 66 km W of this epicenter
- 6.965 km SW of Neiafu, TongaAugust 6, 1949 · 257 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.9171 km WNW of Neiafu, TongaJune 18, 1923 · 242 km SW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 4 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 2 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1917M8.3
Samoa Islands
26 Jun 1917 · 172 km away
2 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1919M8.1
Tonga Islands
30 Apr 1919 · 175 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1865M8.0
Tonga Islands
18 Nov 1865 · 278 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1949M6.9
Tonga Islands
6 Aug 1949 · 257 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.