M5.2 earthquake 72 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga
A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck 72 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga on Thu, May 17, 2007, 10:49 PM GMT-11 (09:49 UTC), 41 km (26 mi) below the surface.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.2 (Mwc, centroid moment), moderate
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2007-05-18 09:49:02 UTC
- Depth
- 41.3 km (25.7 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 15.314° S, 173.634° 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.2 | Mwc, centroid moment | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed |
| 5.22 | Mw, moment | ISC-GEM global catalog | Final · ±0.1 |
| 5.2 | 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 usp000fc7g. 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
- Strike-slip
- Nodal plane 1
- Strike 213°, dip 14°, rake -162°
- Nodal plane 2
- Strike 105°, dip 86°, rake -77°
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Depth from
- CONSTRAINED_BY_DEPTH_PHASES
- Station coverage gap
- 58°
- Stations used
- 234
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.2 and up: 7 in the 60 days after this one and 4 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.467 km E of Hihifo, Tonga · 7064 days ago · 10 km deep · 84 km away
- 4.5108 km N of Hihifo, Tonga · 7057 days ago · 10 km deep · 37 km away
- 5.0116 km NNW of Hihifo, Tonga · 7046 days ago · 10 km deep · 78 km away
- 4.197 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga · 7044 days ago · 1 km deep · 35 km away
- 4.5102 km ENE of Hihifo, Tonga · 7027 days ago · 35 km deep · 82 km away
- 4.097 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga · 7020 days ago · 35 km deep · 25 km away
- 4.482 km NE of Hihifo, Tonga · 7019 days ago · 10 km deep · 39 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp000fc7g (also filed as gcmtc200705180949a, gcmt20070518094902, iscgem12657845). Read Sun, Oct 4, 2026, 4:50 AM UTC.