Reviewed by USGSTonga13y ago
M4.8 earthquake 132 km SW of Haveluloto, Tonga
Friday, May 31, 2013, 14:45:47 UTC · 21.849°S, 176.250°W
A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck 132 km SW of Haveluloto, Tonga on Friday, May 31, 2013, 14:45:47 UTC, at a depth of 101.9 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.0 on May 28, 2013.
- Magnitude
- 4.8
- 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
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
28 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 1,936 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.0TongaJanuary 4, 1903 · 243 km NE of this epicenter
- 8.02006 Tonga EarthquakeMay 3, 2006 · 288 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.8159 km W of Pangai, TongaDecember 14, 1950 · 242 km N of this epicenter
- 7.8192 km WSW of Haveluloto, TongaOctober 14, 1997 · 61 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.8111 km SSE of Pangai, TongaJune 26, 1913 · 284 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.6191 km S of ‘Ohonua, TongaMarch 19, 2009 · 211 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.5110 km E of ‘Ohonua, TongaSeptember 8, 1948 · 254 km E of this epicenter
- 7.5262 km WNW of Haveluloto, TongaMay 21, 1962 · 233 km NW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 13 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 · 120 km away · intensity IV
1 death$1 million damagetsunami
- 2006M7.9
Tonga Islands
3 May 2006 · 288 km away · intensity VII
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1937M8.1
Fiji Islands
16 Apr 1937 · 87 km away
- 1903M8.0
Tonga Islands
4 Jan 1903 · 243 km away
- 1948M7.9
Tonga Islands
8 Sep 1948 · 251 km away
tsunami
- 1950M7.7
Tonga Islands
14 Dec 1950 · 262 km away · intensity VI
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.