Reviewed by USGSTonga3mo ago
M4.2 earthquake 163 km WNW of Pangai, Tonga
Friday, June 19, 2026, 15:08:37 UTC · 19.330°S, 175.827°W
A magnitude 4.2 earthquake struck 163 km WNW of Pangai, Tonga on Friday, June 19, 2026, 15:08:37 UTC, at a depth of 251.9 km (intermediate).
- Magnitude
- 4.2
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 252 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
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
12 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: intermediate
252 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 2,258 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.22018 Fiji EarthquakeAugust 19, 2018 · 280 km NW of this epicenter
- 8.0TongaJanuary 4, 1903 · 114 km SE of this epicenter
- 8.02006 Tonga EarthquakeMay 3, 2006 · 202 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.8159 km W of Pangai, TongaDecember 14, 1950 · 42 km S of this epicenter
- 7.8Fiji regionJanuary 1, 1919 · 236 km W of this epicenter
- 7.8111 km SSE of Pangai, TongaJune 26, 1913 · 259 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.5158 km W of Neiafu, TongaMarch 24, 2026 · 95 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.5110 km E of ‘Ohonua, TongaSeptember 8, 1948 · 292 km SE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 16 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1865M8.0
Tonga Islands
18 Nov 1865 · 245 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 2006M7.9
Tonga Islands
3 May 2006 · 202 km away · intensity VII
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 2018M8.2
Fiji Islands
19 Aug 2018 · 280 km away · intensity V
tsunami
- 1937M8.1
Fiji Islands
16 Apr 1937 · 271 km away
- 1903M8.0
Tonga Islands
4 Jan 1903 · 114 km away
- 1948M7.9
Tonga Islands
8 Sep 1948 · 266 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.