Reviewed by USGS98y ago
M6.5 earthquake in Tonga
Friday, February 14, 1930, 20:41:15 UTC · 21.880°S, 175.087°W
A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck in Tonga on Friday, February 14, 1930, 20:41:15 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.6 on January 22, 1922.
- 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
71 kilotons of TNT
That is about 5 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 150 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
108 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
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 17 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.0TongaJanuary 4, 1903 · 209 km N of this epicenter
- 7.8111 km SSE of Pangai, TongaJune 26, 1913 · 188 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.915 km WSW of Pangai, TongaFebruary 27, 1905 · 232 km N of this epicenter
- 6.6110 km NW of Pangai, TongaJanuary 22, 1922 · 299 km N of this epicenter
- 6.577 km SSW of Pangai, TongaJune 24, 1917 · 165 km N of this epicenter
- 6.5TongaDecember 18, 1906 · 123 km E of this epicenter
- 6.396 km SSE of Pangai, TongaOctober 14, 1918 · 170 km NE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 6 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1903M8.0
Tonga Islands
4 Jan 1903 · 209 km away
- 1902M7.8
Tonga Islands
9 Feb 1902 · 238 km away
- 1913M7.6
Tonga Islands
26 Jun 1913 · 238 km away
- 1853
Tonga Trench
24 Dec 1853 · 80 km away
tsunami
- 1907
S Of Tonga
1907 · 103 km away
tsunami
- 1928
Lifuka Island
18 May 1928 · 240 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.