Tonga earthquakes

M5.4 earthquake 126 km S of Hihifo, Tonga

A magnitude 5.4 earthquake struck 126 km S of Hihifo, Tonga on Thu, May 28, 1981, 7:35 AM GMT-12 (19:35 UTC), 137 km (85 mi) below the surface.

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The earthquake

Magnitude
5.4 (mb), moderate
Local time
UTC
1981-05-28 19:35:56 UTC
Depth
137.0 km (85.1 mi), intermediate-depth
Epicenter
17.080° S, 173.978° W
Region
Tonga
Tsunami flag
No
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

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
CONSTRAINED_BY_DEPTH_PHASES

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 2.4 and up: 5 in the 60 days after this one and 1 in the 30 days before it.

After

  1. 5.086 km SE of Hihifo, Tonga · 16522 days ago · 33 km deep · 98 km away
  2. 4.8162 km SW of Hihifo, Tonga · 16521 days ago · 215 km deep · 85 km away
  3. 5.0147 km NNW of Neiafu, Tonga · 16509 days ago · 83 km deep · 66 km away
  4. 4.4100 km SW of Hihifo, Tonga · 16507 days ago · 111 km deep · 57 km away
  5. 4.692 km S of Hihifo, Tonga · 16500 days ago · 93 km deep · 49 km away

Before

  1. 4.5126 km SSE of Hihifo, Tonga · 16567 days ago · 33 km deep · 47 km away

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Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0001dx7 (also filed as gcmtb052881c, gcmt19810528193556, iscgem627451). Read Mon, Sep 28, 2026, 3:44 PM UTC.