EARTHQUAKEM4.6

M4.6 earthquake in the south of the Fiji Islands

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

A magnitude 4.6 earthquake struck in the south of the Fiji Islands on Thursday, November 5, 2026 at 22:34 UTC, at a depth of 523 km (325 mi), according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Quakes this deep are usually felt widely but rarely cause damage. The epicenter was about 564 km (351 mi) southwest of Nukualofa.

MagnitudeM4.6
Depth523 km (325 mi)
Time (UTC)Nov 5 22:34
Location23.53°S 179.94°E
Nearest townNukualofa · 564 km
Energy120 tons TNT
Tsunami flagNo
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Why here?

This earthquake struck 523 km (325 mi) down, about 278 km (173 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 4.6 released roughly the energy of 120 tons of TNT. That is about 7.9 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 22,000,000 times more than this one.

Earthquake history here

Before this earthquake, USGS had recorded 114 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 November 5, 2026 or earthquakes by day.

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