EARTHQUAKEM4.8

M4.8 earthquake in the south of the Fiji Islands

Map: the earthquake in the south of the Fiji Islands, with plate boundaries

First reported as magnitude 5.0, the earthquake has since been revised to 4.8 by the US Geological Survey. Early estimates come within minutes from the first seismic stations; the reviewed figure takes in many more.

A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck in the south of the Fiji Islands on Tuesday, October 27, 2026 at 15:31 UTC, at a depth of 497 km (309 mi), according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Quakes this deep are usually felt widely but rarely cause damage. The epicenter was about 556 km (345 mi) southwest of Nukualofa.

MagnitudeM4.8
Depth497 km (309 mi)
Time (UTC)Oct 27 15:31
Location23.74°S 179.84°W
Nearest townNukualofa · 556 km
Energy239 tons TNT
Aftershocks M2.5+0
Tsunami flagNo
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Why here?

This earthquake struck 497 km (309 mi) down, about 251 km (156 mi) from the nearest plate boundary on the surface. Quakes this deep happen inside old ocean plate that has sunk far into the mantle at a subduction zone, long after it dove beneath its neighbor. Their great depth spreads the shaking over a wide area but usually keeps it gentle at the surface.

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 4.8 released roughly the energy of 239 tons of TNT. That is about 16 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 11,000,000 times more than this one.

Aftershocks

In the first 24 hours after it, USGS recorded no smaller earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more within 100 km (62 mi).

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 121 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 27, 2026 or earthquakes by day.

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