Tonga earthquakes

M5.4 earthquake 172 km NE of Neiafu, Tonga

A magnitude 5.4 earthquake struck 172 km NE of Neiafu, Tonga on Thu, Sep 16, 1982, 4:15 PM GMT-12 (04:15 UTC), 31 km (19 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M5.5 143 km NE of Neiafu, Tonga. This one was a foreshock.

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The earthquake

Magnitude
5.4 (ms), moderate
Local time
UTC
1982-09-17 04:15:21 UTC
Depth
31.0 km (19.3 mi), shallow
Epicenter
17.691° S, 172.697° 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: 2 in the 60 days after this one and 0 in the 30 days before it.

After

  1. 5.5143 km NE of Neiafu, Tonga · 16044 days ago · 53 km deep · 30 km away
  2. 4.3169 km ENE of Neiafu, Tonga · 16035 days ago · 33 km deep · 56 km away

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Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0001pnm (also filed as gcmtb091782c, gcmt19820917041521, iscgem592136). Read Tue, Sep 22, 2026, 5:10 AM UTC.