Strong and shallow M6.1 earthquake hits Tonga
A strong and shallow earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.1 hit Tonga at 17:34 UTC on April 19, 2026. The agency is reporting a depth of 36 km (22.4 miles). EMSC is reporting the same magnitude and depth.
Epicenter of M6.1 earthquake in Tonga on April 19, 2026. Credit: TW/SAM, Google
The epicenter was located 94 km (59 miles) NNE of Hihifo (population 815), Tonga, 246 km (153 miles) SW of Apia (population 40 407), Samoa, and 327 km (203 miles) WSW of Pago Pago (population 11 500), American Samoa.
23 000 people are estimated to have felt light shaking and 189 000 weak.
There is no tsunami threat from this earthquake.
The USGS issued a Green alert for shaking-related fatalities and economic losses. There is a low likelihood of casualties and damage.
Overall, the population in this region resides in structures that are vulnerable to earthquake shaking, though resistant structures exist. The predominant vulnerable building types are informal (metal, timber, GI etc.) and unknown/miscellaneous types construction.
Estimated population exposure to earthquake shaking
Selected cities exposed
Regional seismicity
References:
1 M6.1 earthquake Tonga – USGS – April 19, 2026
2 M6.1 earthquake Tonga – EMSC – April 19, 2026
Teo Blašković founded The Watchers in 2011 and edited it until 2026, covering seismic and volcanic activity, extreme weather, space weather and near-Earth objects. Articles on this page are his archive.
Published in the last 24 hours
- In September 1859, a solar storm lit up the night sky so brightly that gold miners in the Rocky Mountains woke up after midnight and started cooking breakfast, convinced the aurora glowing over their camp was the sunrise Epicenter
- A patch of warm Pacific water that could become the strongest El Niño in more than 70 years sits thousands of miles from any American town, yet it is already the main reason NOAA expects a wetter winter across the South and a milder one across the North
- A 19-year-old Nebraska teacher reportedly tied her pupils together with twine and led them to safety through a blizzard in January 1888 Epicenter
- NASA built the Opportunity rover to last 90 days on Mars, and Martian winds helped keep it alive for nearly 15 years by blowing dust off its solar panels, until a planet-wide dust storm in 2018 blocked sunlight and silenced the rover Epicenter
