M4.8 earthquake 163 km WNW of Neiafu, Tonga

Saturday, May 2, 2026, 11:30:50 UTC · 18.361°S, 175.499°W

A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck 163 km WNW of Neiafu, Tonga on Saturday, May 2, 2026, 11:30:50 UTC, at a depth of 252.8 km (intermediate). USGS received 1 “Did You Feel It?” report, with a maximum reported intensity of III (weak). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.9 on April 30, 2026.

Magnitude: 4.8; Light · mb
Depth: 253 km; Intermediate
Felt reports: 1; Max intensity III
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

239 tons of TNT

That is about 1/63 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 2 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

63 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

253 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

Reports sent by people to USGS, grouped by place (most reports first). Intensity uses the Modified Mercalli scale (I–X): what people felt, not the magnitude.

Place	Intensity	Reports	Distance
Neiafu, Vavaʿu, Tonga	III · Weak	1	289 km

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 10 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.7 on May 16, 2026. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 1,999 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 12 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 · 249 km away · intensity VII
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
2018M8.2
Fiji Islands
19 Aug 2018 · 282 km away · intensity V
tsunami
1903M8.0
Tonga Islands
4 Jan 1903 · 190 km away
1902M7.8
Tonga Islands
9 Feb 1902 · 241 km away
1919M7.8
Fiji Islands
1 Jan 1919 · 292 km away
tsunami

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

Nearby trackers