QuakeScout
Magnitude4.4

Reviewed by USGSTonga39y ago

M4.4 earthquake 131 km SSW of Hihifo, Tonga

Saturday, November 28, 1987, 05:06:26 UTC · 17.066°S, 174.225°W

A magnitude 4.4 earthquake struck 131 km SSW of Hihifo, Tonga on Saturday, November 28, 1987, 05:06:26 UTC, at a depth of 210.5 km (intermediate).

Magnitude
4.4
Light · mb
Depth
211 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

60 tons of TNT

That is about 1/251 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 8 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

31 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

211 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 860 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 8.11919 Tonga EarthquakeApril 30, 1919 · 235 km SE of this epicenter
  2. 8.0The 1917 Samoa-Tonga EarthquakeJune 26, 1917 · 252 km NE of this epicenter
  3. 7.8146 km ESE of Hihifo, TongaDecember 26, 1975 · 207 km NE of this epicenter
  4. 7.7133 km NE of Hihifo, TongaSeptember 1, 1981 · 264 km NE of this epicenter
  5. 7.6199 km ESE of Hihifo, TongaApril 2, 1977 · 230 km E of this epicenter
  6. 7.4103 km ESE of Neiafu, TongaFebruary 27, 1921 · 240 km SE of this epicenter
  7. 7.385 km ESE of Neiafu, TongaJanuary 2, 1907 · 243 km SE of this epicenter
  8. 7.3201 km ENE of Neiafu, TongaOctober 6, 1987 · 233 km SE of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 9 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 2 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 1917M8.3

    Samoa Islands

    26 Jun 1917 · 218 km away

    2 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

  2. 1919M8.1

    Tonga Islands

    30 Apr 1919 · 231 km away

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  3. 1865M8.0

    Tonga Islands

    18 Nov 1865 · 281 km away

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  4. 1981M7.7

    Apia; American Samoa: Pago Pago

    1 Sep 1981 · 264 km away · intensity VI

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  5. 1977M7.6

    Apia

    2 Apr 1977 · 230 km away · intensity VI

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  6. 1975M7.8

    Samoa Islands

    26 Dec 1975 · 207 km away · intensity V

    tsunami

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

Nearby trackers

Closest city pages