Reviewed by USGSTonga3mo ago
M4.2 earthquake 137 km NW of Fangale’ounga, Tonga
Friday, June 26, 2026, 05:24:23 UTC · 19.043°S, 175.393°W
A magnitude 4.2 earthquake struck 137 km NW of Fangale’ounga, Tonga on Friday, June 26, 2026, 05:24:23 UTC, at a depth of 278.4 km (intermediate).
- Magnitude
- 4.2
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 278 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
29 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
278 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 2,168 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.0TongaJanuary 4, 1903 · 114 km S of this epicenter
- 8.02006 Tonga EarthquakeMay 3, 2006 · 184 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.8159 km W of Pangai, TongaDecember 14, 1950 · 89 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.8Fiji regionJanuary 1, 1919 · 284 km W of this epicenter
- 7.8111 km SSE of Pangai, TongaJune 26, 1913 · 246 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.5158 km W of Neiafu, TongaMarch 24, 2026 · 57 km N of this epicenter
- 7.5110 km E of ‘Ohonua, TongaSeptember 8, 1948 · 289 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.5262 km WNW of Haveluloto, TongaMay 21, 1962 · 246 km SW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 14 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1865M8.0
Tonga Islands
18 Nov 1865 · 205 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 2006M7.9
Tonga Islands
3 May 2006 · 184 km away · intensity VII
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1903M8.0
Tonga Islands
4 Jan 1903 · 114 km away
- 1948M7.9
Tonga Islands
8 Sep 1948 · 262 km away
tsunami
- 1902M7.8
Tonga Islands
9 Feb 1902 · 181 km away
- 1919M7.8
Fiji Islands
1 Jan 1919 · 284 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.