M4.4 earthquake 100 km SW of Hihifo, Tonga
A magnitude 4.4 earthquake struck 100 km SW of Hihifo, Tonga on Sun, Jul 19, 1981, 3:06 AM GMT-12 (15:06 UTC), 111 km (69 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M5.4 63 km WSW of Hihifo, Tonga. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 4.4 (mb), light
- Local time
- UTC
- 1981-07-19 15:06:55 UTC
- Depth
- 110.9 km (68.9 mi), intermediate-depth
- Epicenter
- 16.699° S, 174.331° 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.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.5 and up: 2 in the 60 days after this one and 2 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.692 km S of Hihifo, Tonga · 16499 days ago · 93 km deep · 74 km away
- 5.463 km WSW of Hihifo, Tonga · 16482 days ago · 191 km deep · 67 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0001etb. Read Sun, Sep 27, 2026, 5:16 PM UTC.