M4.9 earthquake 82 km NNW of Hihifo, Tonga
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck 82 km NNW of Hihifo, Tonga on Sun, Sep 15, 1985, 3:54 PM GMT-11 (02:54 UTC), 139 km (86 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M5.1 75 km W 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
- 4.9 (mb), light
- Local time
- UTC
- 1985-09-16 02:54:02 UTC
- Depth
- 138.6 km (86.1 mi), intermediate-depth
- Epicenter
- 15.296° S, 174.153° 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
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.9 and up: 7 in the 60 days after this one and 1 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.5104 km WNW of Hihifo, Tonga · 14976 days ago · 300 km deep · 68 km away
- 4.588 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga · 14970 days ago · 33 km deep · 68 km away
- 4.695 km WNW of Hihifo, Tonga · 14967 days ago · 33 km deep · 66 km away
- 4.894 km N of Hihifo, Tonga · 14961 days ago · 33 km deep · 57 km away
- 4.444 km NE of Hihifo, Tonga · 14952 days ago · 53 km deep · 87 km away
- 5.175 km W of Hihifo, Tonga · 14944 days ago · 33 km deep · 74 km away
- 5.294 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga · 14943 days ago · 33 km deep · 88 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0002jtk. Read Mon, Sep 21, 2026, 8:15 PM UTC.