M4.8 earthquake 162 km SW of Hihifo, Tonga
A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck 162 km SW of Hihifo, Tonga on Sun, Jul 5, 1981, 1:06 PM GMT-12 (01:06 UTC), 215 km (134 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M5.0 147 km NNW of Neiafu, 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), light
- Local time
- UTC
- 1981-07-06 01:06:44 UTC
- Depth
- 215.3 km (133.8 mi), intermediate-depth
- Epicenter
- 17.079° S, 174.781° 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
- FROM_LOCATION
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.8 and up: 2 in the 60 days after this one and 0 in the 30 days before it.
After
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0001ej0. Read Sun, Sep 27, 2026, 2:46 AM UTC.