M5.1 earthquake 68 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck 68 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga on Sun, Feb 18, 2007, 5:55 PM GMT-11 (04:55 UTC), 35 km (22 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M5.5 133 km NNE 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
- 5.1 (Mwc, centroid moment), moderate
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2007-02-19 04:55:38 UTC
- Depth
- 35.0 km (21.7 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 15.362° S, 173.616° W
- Region
- Tonga
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
Magnitude estimates
Different scales measure different things and differ by a few tenths. The USGS marks one as preferred, and it is the one this page uses.
| Mag. | Scale | Computed by | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.1 | Mwc, centroid moment | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed |
| 5.05 | Mw, moment | ISC-GEM global catalog | Final · ±0.1 |
| 5.1 | Mwc, centroid moment | Global CMT project | Preliminary |
What happened
The USGS’s account of the effects of this earthquake.
no people dead or missing; no people injured; no buildings damaged or destroyed
From the USGS event page for usp000f54t. U.S. Geological Survey text and figures are in the public domain.
Did you feel it?
No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.
Fault motion and ground failure
How the rock slipped, from the moment tensor, and the USGS estimate of landslides and liquefaction.
- Faulting
- Oblique reverse
- Nodal plane 1
- Strike 175°, dip 16°, rake 137°
- Nodal plane 2
- Strike 307°, dip 79°, rake 78°
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Depth from
- OPERATOR_ASSIGNED
- Station coverage gap
- 70°
- Stations used
- 43
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.1 and up: 12 in the 60 days after this one and 2 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.632 km NNW of Hihifo, Tonga · 7147 days ago · 104 km deep · 43 km away
- 4.593 km NNW of Hihifo, Tonga · 7145 days ago · 99 km deep · 53 km away
- 4.1Tonga · 7145 days ago · 10 km deep · 71 km away
- 4.2103 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga · 7141 days ago · 10 km deep · 39 km away
- 4.856 km NE of Hihifo, Tonga · 7136 days ago · 43 km deep · 25 km away
- 4.586 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga · 7133 days ago · 10 km deep · 19 km away
- 4.384 km N of Hihifo, Tonga · 7131 days ago · 60 km deep · 31 km away
- 3.976 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga · 7125 days ago · 10 km deep · 14 km away
- 4.493 km NE of Hihifo, Tonga · 7125 days ago · 10 km deep · 44 km away
- 4.387 km E of Hihifo, Tonga · 7122 days ago · 10 km deep · 86 km away
- 5.5133 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga · 7115 days ago · 57 km deep · 66 km away
- 5.070 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga · 7114 days ago · 64 km deep · 8 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp000f54t (also filed as gcmtc200702190455a, gcmt20070219045538, iscgem11505563). Read Sat, Oct 3, 2026, 3:09 PM UTC.