M4.8 earthquake 99 km SSE of Pangai, Tonga
A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck 99 km SSE of Pangai, Tonga on Wed, Jul 17, 1974, 7:32 PM GMT+13 (06:32 UTC), 33 km (21 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M5.0 96 km ENE of Kolonga, Tonga. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 4.8 (mb, body-wave), light
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 1974-07-17 06:32:24 UTC
- Depth
- 33.0 km (20.5 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 20.658° S, 174.024° W
- Region
- Tonga
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
Magnitude estimates
Different scales measure different things and differ by a few tenths. The USGS marks one as preferred, and it is the one this page uses.
| Mag. | Scale | Computed by | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.8 | mb, body-wave | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed |
| 5.13 | Mw, moment | ISC-GEM global catalog | Final · ±0.2 |
Did you feel it?
No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Depth from
- OPERATOR_ASSIGNED
- Stations used
- 26
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.8 and up: 2 in the 60 days after this one and 2 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 5.096 km ENE of Kolonga, Tonga · 19065 days ago · 33 km deep · 25 km away
- 4.581 km S of Pangai, Tonga · 19061 days ago · 33 km deep · 37 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp000076m (also filed as iscgem746035). Read Fri, Oct 2, 2026, 10:11 PM UTC.