QuakeScout
Magnitude4.3

Reviewed by USGSTonga31y ago

M4.3 earthquake 94 km SSE of Hihifo, Tonga

Sunday, April 23, 1995, 19:19:22 UTC · 16.733°S, 173.427°W

A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck 94 km SSE of Hihifo, Tonga on Sunday, April 23, 1995, 19:19:22 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow).

Magnitude
4.3
Light · mb
Depth
33 km
Shallow
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

43 tons of TNT

That is about 1/354 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 11 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

118 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Tonga and Niuafo'ou plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.

Depth: shallow

33 km

Shallow earthquakes (under 70 km) produce the strongest surface shaking for their size, so they are the ones most likely to cause damage near the epicenter.

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 1,067 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 · 205 km SE of this epicenter
  2. 8.0The 1917 Samoa-Tonga EarthquakeJune 26, 1917 · 194 km N of this epicenter
  3. 7.8146 km ESE of Hihifo, TongaDecember 26, 1975 · 115 km NE of this epicenter
  4. 7.7133 km NE of Hihifo, TongaSeptember 1, 1981 · 201 km N of this epicenter
  5. 7.6199 km ESE of Hihifo, TongaApril 2, 1977 · 142 km E of this epicenter
  6. 7.488 km NNE of Hihifo, TongaApril 7, 1995 · 171 km N of this epicenter
  7. 7.4103 km ESE of Neiafu, TongaFebruary 27, 1921 · 245 km S of this epicenter
  8. 7.385 km ESE of Neiafu, TongaJanuary 2, 1907 · 260 km S 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 · 144 km away

    2 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

  2. 1919M8.1

    Tonga Islands

    30 Apr 1919 · 204 km away

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  3. 1981M7.7

    Apia; American Samoa: Pago Pago

    1 Sep 1981 · 201 km away · intensity VI

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  4. 1977M7.6

    Apia

    2 Apr 1977 · 142 km away · intensity VI

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  5. 1975M7.8

    Samoa Islands

    26 Dec 1975 · 115 km away · intensity V

    tsunami

  6. 1957M7.5

    Samoa Islands

    14 Apr 1957 · 144 km away

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

Nearby trackers

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