Strong mag. 6.0 earthquake - Tonga on Tuesday, 30 December 1986 at 15:32 (GMT)

Strong mag. 6.0 earthquake - Tonga on Tuesday, 30 December 1986 at 15:32 (GMT)

Strong magnitude 6.0 earthquake at 24 km depth

Date & time: 30 Dec 1986 15:32:13 UTC
Magnitude: 6
Depth: 23.7 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 20.399°S / 174.071°W (Tonga)
Nearest volcano: Feinga Seamount (117 km / 73 mi)
Nearby towns and cities:
71 km (44 mi) SSE of Pangai (pop: 1,740) --> See nearby quakes!
132 km (82 mi) NE of Kolonga (pop: 1,100) --> See nearby quakes!
138 km (86 mi) NE of ‘Ohonua (Ohonua) (pop: 1,240) --> See nearby quakes!
144 km (89 mi) NE of Nuku'alofa (pop: 22,400) --> See nearby quakes!
144 km (89 mi) NE of Nuku‘alofa (pop: 22,400) --> See nearby quakes!
195 km (121 mi) S of Neiafu (pop: 4,320) --> See nearby quakes!
460 km (286 mi) WSW of Alofi (Niue) (pop: 624) --> See nearby quakes!
464 km (288 mi) WSW of Hakupu (Niue) (pop: 221) --> See nearby quakes!
472 km (293 mi) WSW of Mutalau (Niue) (pop: 133) --> See nearby quakes!
Primary data source: USGS (United States Geological Survey)
Estimated released energy: 6.3 x 1013 joules (17.5 gigawatt hours, equivalent to 15080 tons of TNT or 0.9 atomic bombs!) More info
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Data for the same earthquake reported by different agencies

Info: The more agencies report about the same quake and post similar data, the more confidence you can have in the data. It takes normally up to a few hours until earthquake parameters are calculated with near-optimum precision.
MagnitudeDepthLocationSource
M 6.024 kmTongaUSGS
Note: for quakes of 2012 and earlier, our database often contains only records from USGS.

User reports for this quake

User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale.
There are no user reports for this quake yet. If you felt it be the first to report it!
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Aftershocks of the 6.0 quake Tonga 30 December 1986 15:32 GMT

More info
Recorded aftershocks, latest first (3 quakes):
  • 17 Apr 1987 05:14 UTC
    | M 5.2 |
    76.2 km (47.3 mi) depth
    |
    39 km (24 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 11 Apr 1987 09:05 UTC
    | M 4.8 |
    33 km (20.5 mi) depth
    |
    30 km (19 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 26 Feb 1987 16:01 UTC
    | M 4.8 |
    33 km (20.5 mi) depth
    |
    37 km (23 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details

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Earlier earthquakes in the same area

Strong mag. 6.0 earthquake - Tonga on Tuesday, 30 December 1986 at 15:32 (GMT)
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