M5.3 earthquake 143 km WNW of Pangai, Tonga
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck 143 km WNW of Pangai, Tonga on Mon, Jan 19, 1987, 7:16 AM GMT+13 (18:16 UTC), 242 km (150 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M5.6 181 km NW of Pangai, Tonga. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.3 (mw), moderate
- Local time
- UTC
- 1987-01-18 18:16:11 UTC
- Depth
- 242.0 km (150.4 mi), intermediate-depth
- Epicenter
- 19.460° S, 175.666° 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 2.3 and up: 1 in the 60 days after this one and 4 in the 30 days before it.
After
Before
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp00031rm (also filed as gcmtb011887a, gcmt19870118181611, iscgem476840). Read Sun, Sep 27, 2026, 11:52 PM UTC.