M4.6 earthquake Tonga
A magnitude 4.6 earthquake struck in Tonga on Sat, Apr 18, 1981, 9:19 PM GMT-12 (09:19 UTC), 244 km (151 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M5.4 126 km S 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
- 4.6 (mb), light
- Local time
- UTC
- 1981-04-19 09:19:25 UTC
- Depth
- 243.6 km (151.4 mi), intermediate-depth
- Epicenter
- 17.082° S, 174.542° 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 1.6 and up: 1 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 usp0001d7t. Read Thu, Sep 24, 2026, 7:01 AM UTC.