Tonga earthquakes

M5.9 earthquake 115 km SSW of Hihifo, Tonga

A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck 115 km SSW of Hihifo, Tonga on Tue, Nov 24, 1987, 3:06 AM GMT-12 (15:06 UTC), 143 km (89 mi) below the surface.

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The earthquake

Magnitude
5.9 (mw), moderate
Local time
UTC
1987-11-24 15:06:09 UTC
Depth
143.2 km (89.0 mi), intermediate-depth
Epicenter
16.976° S, 174.026° 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 2.9 and up: 3 in the 60 days after this one and 2 in the 30 days before it.

After

  1. 4.4131 km SSW of Hihifo, Tonga · 14186 days ago · 211 km deep · 23 km away
  2. 5.078 km SE of Hihifo, Tonga · 14150 days ago · 33 km deep · 95 km away
  3. 4.483 km SE of Hihifo, Tonga · 14150 days ago · 33 km deep · 92 km away

Before

  1. 6.2138 km S of Hihifo, Tonga · 14210 days ago · 88 km deep · 38 km away
  2. 4.7113 km SE of Hihifo, Tonga · 14217 days ago · 33 km deep · 97 km away

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Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0003ag2 (also filed as gcmtb112487h, gcmt19871124150609, iscgem453752). Read Tue, Sep 29, 2026, 5:50 PM UTC.