Reviewed by USGSTonga85y ago
M6.5 earthquake 97 km WSW of Pangai, Tonga
Monday, November 2, 1942, 23:59:36 UTC · 20.211°S, 175.188°W
A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck 97 km WSW of Pangai, Tonga on Monday, November 2, 1942, 23:59:36 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.3 on April 16, 1937.
- Magnitude
- 6.5
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 35 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
101 kilotons of TNT
That is about 7 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 211 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
57 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Tonga and Niuafo'ou plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
35 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 46 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.0TongaJanuary 4, 1903 · 31 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.8111 km SSE of Pangai, TongaJune 26, 1913 · 153 km E of this epicenter
- 7.4103 km ESE of Neiafu, TongaFebruary 27, 1921 · 268 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.385 km ESE of Neiafu, TongaJanuary 2, 1907 · 234 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.3227 km WNW of Haveluloto, TongaApril 16, 1937 · 226 km W of this epicenter
- 7.2108 km SE of Neiafu, TongaDecember 19, 1906 · 239 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.2241 km WNW of Houma, TongaAugust 21, 1911 · 218 km W of this epicenter
- 7.2280 km WNW of Houma, TongaDecember 14, 1910 · 278 km W of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 8 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1865M8.0
Tonga Islands
18 Nov 1865 · 193 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1937M8.1
Fiji Islands
16 Apr 1937 · 237 km away
- 1903M8.0
Tonga Islands
4 Jan 1903 · 31 km away
- 1902M7.8
Tonga Islands
9 Feb 1902 · 126 km away
- 1913M7.6
Tonga Islands
26 Jun 1913 · 126 km away
- 1853
Tonga Trench
24 Dec 1853 · 106 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.