Reviewed by USGSTonga26y ago
M4.3 earthquake 162 km WNW of Neiafu, Tonga
Saturday, February 19, 2000, 08:50:18 UTC · 18.049°S, 175.382°W
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck 162 km WNW of Neiafu, Tonga on Saturday, February 19, 2000, 08:50:18 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
67 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: 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 996 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.0TongaJanuary 4, 1903 · 221 km S of this epicenter
- 7.8159 km W of Pangai, TongaDecember 14, 1950 · 191 km S of this epicenter
- 7.4103 km ESE of Neiafu, TongaFebruary 27, 1921 · 265 km E of this epicenter
- 7.385 km ESE of Neiafu, TongaJanuary 2, 1907 · 247 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.2108 km SE of Neiafu, TongaDecember 19, 1906 · 269 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.2241 km WNW of Houma, TongaAugust 21, 1911 · 294 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.2Fiji regionMarch 31, 1907 · 166 km W of this epicenter
- 7.2117 km SSW of Hihifo, TongaJanuary 8, 2000 · 173 km NE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 7 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1865M8.0
Tonga Islands
18 Nov 1865 · 256 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1903M8.0
Tonga Islands
4 Jan 1903 · 221 km away
- 1902M7.8
Tonga Islands
9 Feb 1902 · 261 km away
- 1950M7.7
Tonga Islands
14 Dec 1950 · 174 km away · intensity VI
- 1913M7.6
Tonga Islands
26 Jun 1913 · 261 km away
- 1949M6.9
Tonga Islands
6 Aug 1949 · 158 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.