Reviewed by USGSTonga4mo ago
M4.1 earthquake 182 km NW of Fangale’ounga, Tonga
Sunday, May 24, 2026, 23:49:18 UTC · 18.815°S, 175.755°W
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck 182 km NW of Fangale’ounga, Tonga on Sunday, May 24, 2026, 23:49:18 UTC, at a depth of 279.4 km (intermediate).
- Magnitude
- 4.1
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 279 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 earthquakeDashed circle: 50 km aftershock search area
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
21 tons of TNT
That is about 1/707 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 22 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
68 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Niuafo'ou and Australian plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: intermediate
279 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 lists 3 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.6 on June 6, 2026. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 2,135 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 · 265 km W of this epicenter
- 8.0TongaJanuary 4, 1903 · 154 km SE of this epicenter
- 8.02006 Tonga EarthquakeMay 3, 2006 · 229 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.8159 km W of Pangai, TongaDecember 14, 1950 · 100 km S of this epicenter
- 7.8Fiji regionJanuary 1, 1919 · 251 km W of this epicenter
- 7.8111 km SSE of Pangai, TongaJune 26, 1913 · 291 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.6240 km E of Levuka, FijiMarch 9, 1994 · 293 km W of this epicenter
- 7.5158 km W of Neiafu, TongaMarch 24, 2026 · 43 km NE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 15 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1865M8.0
Tonga Islands
18 Nov 1865 · 249 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 2006M7.9
Tonga Islands
3 May 2006 · 229 km away · intensity VII
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 2018M8.2
Fiji Islands
19 Aug 2018 · 265 km away · intensity V
tsunami
- 1903M8.0
Tonga Islands
4 Jan 1903 · 154 km away
- 1902M7.8
Tonga Islands
9 Feb 1902 · 226 km away
- 1919M7.8
Fiji Islands
1 Jan 1919 · 251 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.