EARTHQUAKEM4.5

M4.5 earthquake in the Fiji region

Map: the earthquake in the Fiji region, with plate boundaries

A magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck in the Fiji region on Sunday, October 18, 2026 at 22:34 UTC, at a depth of 552 km (343 mi), according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Quakes this deep are usually felt widely but rarely cause damage. The epicenter was about 358 km (222 mi) west of Nukualofa, Tonga.

MagnitudeM4.5
Depth552 km (343 mi)
Time (UTC)Oct 18 22:34
Location20.93°S 178.66°W
Nearest townNukualofa · 358 km
Energy85 tons TNT
Aftershocks M2.5+2
Tsunami flagNo
See it on the live 3D globe →Watch live on YouTube🔔 Get alerts near you

Why here?

This earthquake struck about 241 km (150 mi) from the boundary between the Australian and Tonga plates. Most earthquakes happen along plate boundaries like this one, where the pieces of Earth’s outer shell collide, pull apart or grind past each other. Stress builds up over years until the rock suddenly slips. At 552 km down, it most likely broke inside a plate that is sinking into the mantle beneath its neighbor, in what geologists call a subduction zone.

The red lines on the map are plate boundaries.

How strong was it?

Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step releases about 32 times more energy. This magnitude 4.5 released roughly the energy of 85 tons of TNT. That is about 5.6 times the energy of a magnitude 4.0, a quake people nearby feel but that rarely causes damage. The strongest earthquake ever recorded, magnitude 9.5 in Chile in 1960, released about 32,000,000 times more than this one.

Aftershocks

In the first 7 days after it, USGS recorded 2 smaller earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more within 100 km (62 mi). The largest was a magnitude 4.3 on October 23 at 06:07 UTC.

Outside the United States, USGS mainly lists quakes of about magnitude 4 and up, so smaller aftershocks there are undercounted.

Earthquake history here

Before this earthquake, USGS had recorded 159 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or larger within 300 km (186 mi) since 1900. The strongest:

Official details, updates and the shaking map: USGS event page.

See every earthquake on October 18, 2026 or earthquakes by day.

More from around the world