Reviewed by USGSTonga13y ago
M4.5 earthquake 291 km SW of Vaini, Tonga
Wednesday, June 19, 2013, 15:12:29 UTC · 23.044°S, 177.187°W
A magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck 291 km SW of Vaini, Tonga on Wednesday, June 19, 2013, 15:12:29 UTC, at a depth of 101.5 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.7 on June 18, 2013.
- Magnitude
- 4.5
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 102 km
- Intermediate
- 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
85 tons of TNT
That is about 1/178 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 6 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
26 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Tonga and Australian plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: intermediate
102 km
Intermediate-depth earthquakes usually break inside a plate that is sinking into the mantle. Shaking spreads over a wide area but is gentler at the epicenter than a shallow quake of the same size.
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 has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 1,774 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.8south of TongaOctober 11, 1975 · 294 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.8192 km WSW of Haveluloto, TongaOctober 14, 1997 · 113 km N of this epicenter
- 7.7Fiji regionAugust 19, 2002 · 282 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.6south of the Fiji IslandsDecember 18, 1963 · 193 km S of this epicenter
- 7.6191 km S of ‘Ohonua, TongaMarch 19, 2009 · 259 km E of this epicenter
- 7.4Fiji regionAugust 5, 1996 · 286 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.4292 km SW of Vaini, TongaMay 23, 2013 · 6 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.3227 km WNW of Haveluloto, TongaApril 16, 1937 · 273 km N 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:
- 1977M7.2
Tonga Trench
22 Jun 1977 · 133 km away · intensity IV
1 death$1 million damagetsunami
- 1937M8.1
Fiji Islands
16 Apr 1937 · 173 km away
- 1975M7.8
S Of Tonga
11 Oct 1975 · 294 km away
- 1982M7.7
Tonga Trench
19 Dec 1982 · 181 km away
tsunami
- 1997M7.7
Tonga Islands
14 Oct 1997 · 113 km away
tsunami
- 2002M7.7
Fiji Islands
19 Aug 2002 · 282 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.