Reviewed by USGSTonga29y ago
M4.7 earthquake 223 km W of Haveluloto, Tonga
Saturday, November 1, 1997, 18:57:14 UTC · 21.132°S, 177.368°W
A magnitude 4.7 earthquake struck 223 km W of Haveluloto, Tonga on Saturday, November 1, 1997, 18:57:14 UTC, at a depth of 400.0 km (deep). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.8 on November 1, 1997.
- Magnitude
- 4.7
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 400 km
- Deep
- 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
169 tons of TNT
That is about 1/89 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 3 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
105 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Tonga and Australian plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
Depth: deep
400 km
Deep earthquakes (over 300 km) happen deep inside subducting plates. They rarely cause damage, but can be felt faintly over very large distances.
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 1,103 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.0TongaJanuary 4, 1903 · 277 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.8159 km W of Pangai, TongaDecember 14, 1950 · 222 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.8Fiji regionJanuary 1, 1919 · 215 km N of this epicenter
- 7.8192 km WSW of Haveluloto, TongaOctober 14, 1997 · 124 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.5262 km WNW of Haveluloto, TongaMay 21, 1962 · 116 km N of this epicenter
- 7.4Fiji regionSeptember 28, 1957 · 121 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.4Fiji regionAugust 5, 1996 · 109 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.3227 km WNW of Haveluloto, TongaApril 16, 1937 · 60 km N 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 1 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1977M7.2
Tonga Trench
22 Jun 1977 · 246 km away · intensity IV
1 death$1 million damagetsunami
- 1937M8.1
Fiji Islands
16 Apr 1937 · 56 km away
- 1903M8.0
Tonga Islands
4 Jan 1903 · 277 km away
- 1919M7.8
Fiji Islands
1 Jan 1919 · 215 km away
tsunami
- 1950M7.7
Tonga Islands
14 Dec 1950 · 231 km away · intensity VI
- 1997M7.7
Tonga Islands
14 Oct 1997 · 124 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.