QuakeScout
Magnitude4.2

Reviewed by USGSTonga7y ago

M4.2 earthquake 256 km W of Haveluloto, Tonga

Saturday, November 17, 2018, 10:39:53 UTC · 20.782°S, 177.647°W

A magnitude 4.2 earthquake struck 256 km W of Haveluloto, Tonga on Saturday, November 17, 2018, 10:39:53 UTC, at a depth of 535.2 km (deep).

Magnitude
4.2
Light · mb
Depth
535 km
Deep
Felt reports
0
Did You Feel It?
Est. shaking
—
No ShakeMap
PAGER alert
None
Not issued
Tsunami
No flag
USGS feed

Outlined circle: this earthquakeDashed circle: 50 km aftershock search area

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

30 tons of TNT

That is about 1/500 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 16 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

143 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Tonga and Australian plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.

Depth: deep

535 km

Deep earthquakes (over 300 km) happen deep inside subducting plates. They rarely cause damage, but can be felt faintly over very large distances.

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 50 km

USGS lists 3 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.4 on December 2, 2018. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

M3M41h6h1d3d7d14d30dMainshock M4.2
Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.
  1. 4.4274 km W of Haveluloto, Tonga7y ago · 40 km SW of this epicenter
  2. 4.0264 km W of Haveluloto, Tonga7y ago · 8 km W of this epicenter
  3. 4.4254 km WNW of Haveluloto, Tonga7y ago · 33 km N of this epicenter

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 1,620 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 8.0TongaJanuary 4, 1903 · 289 km E of this epicenter
  2. 7.8159 km W of Pangai, TongaDecember 14, 1950 · 220 km NE of this epicenter
  3. 7.8Fiji regionJanuary 1, 1919 · 169 km N of this epicenter
  4. 7.8192 km WSW of Haveluloto, TongaOctober 14, 1997 · 172 km SE of this epicenter
  5. 7.7Fiji regionAugust 19, 2002 · 219 km SW of this epicenter
  6. 7.5262 km WNW of Haveluloto, TongaMay 21, 1962 · 80 km N of this epicenter
  7. 7.4Fiji regionSeptember 28, 1957 · 78 km W of this epicenter
  8. 7.4Fiji regionAugust 5, 1996 · 70 km W of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 10 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 1 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 1977M7.2

    Tonga Trench

    22 Jun 1977 · 295 km away · intensity IV

    1 death$1 million damagetsunami

  2. 1937M8.1

    Fiji Islands

    16 Apr 1937 · 104 km away

  3. 1903M8.0

    Tonga Islands

    4 Jan 1903 · 289 km away

  4. 1919M7.8

    Fiji Islands

    1 Jan 1919 · 169 km away

    tsunami

  5. 1950M7.7

    Tonga Islands

    14 Dec 1950 · 223 km away · intensity VI

  6. 1997M7.7

    Tonga Islands

    14 Oct 1997 · 172 km away

    tsunami

NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.

Nearby trackers

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