EARTHQUAKEM4.8

M4.8 earthquake in the Fiji region

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

A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck in the Fiji region on Friday, October 30, 2026 at 05:10 UTC, at a depth of 372 km (231 mi), according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Quakes this deep are usually felt widely but rarely cause damage. The epicenter was about 328 km (204 mi) west of Neiafu.

MagnitudeM4.8
Depth372 km (231 mi)
Time (UTC)Oct 30 05:10
Location18.18°S 177.05°W
Nearest townNeiafu · 328 km
Energy239 tons TNT
Tsunami flagNo
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Why here?

This earthquake struck about 72 km (45 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 372 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 4.8 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.

Earthquake history here

Before this earthquake, USGS had recorded 200 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 30, 2026 or earthquakes by day.

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