M5.2 earthquake 40 km SSW of Hihifo, Tonga
A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck 40 km SSW of Hihifo, Tonga on Fri, Oct 17, 1986, 9:21 AM GMT-11 (20:21 UTC), 109 km (68 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M5.7 35 km SSW of Hihifo, Tonga. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.2 (mw), moderate
- Local time
- UTC
- 1986-10-17 20:21:18 UTC
- Depth
- 108.8 km (67.6 mi), intermediate-depth
- Epicenter
- 16.286° S, 173.947° 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 2.2 and up: 5 in the 60 days after this one and 1 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 5.160 km ENE of Hihifo, Tonga · 14566 days ago · 165 km deep · 92 km away
- 5.049 km NNW of Hihifo, Tonga · 14563 days ago · 105 km deep · 82 km away
- 5.735 km SSW of Hihifo, Tonga · 14542 days ago · 106 km deep · 4 km away
- 5.593 km WNW of Hihifo, Tonga · 14538 days ago · 33 km deep · 96 km away
- 4.692 km WSW of Hihifo, Tonga · 14525 days ago · 121 km deep · 63 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0002z14 (also filed as gcmtb101786b, gcmt19861017202119, iscgem484296). Read Tue, Sep 22, 2026, 9:15 AM UTC.