M5.0 earthquake 222 km SW of Vaini, Tonga
A magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck 222 km SW of Vaini, Tonga on Fri, Jan 11, 1985, 1:35 AM GMT+13 (12:35 UTC), 182 km (113 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M5.9 south of the Fiji Islands. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.0 (mb), moderate
- Local time
- UTC
- 1985-01-10 12:35:46 UTC
- Depth
- 181.7 km (112.9 mi), intermediate-depth
- Epicenter
- 22.683° S, 176.622° W
- Region
- Tonga
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
Did you feel it?
No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Depth from
- CONSTRAINED_BY_DEPTH_PHASES
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.0 and up: 4 in the 60 days after this one and 0 in the 30 days before it.
After
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0002axc. Read Mon, Sep 28, 2026, 7:58 PM UTC.