M5.1 earthquake 49 km W of Hihifo, Tonga
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck 49 km W of Hihifo, Tonga on Sun, Aug 5, 2007, 8:11 AM GMT-11 (19:11 UTC), 121 km (75 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M5.2 98 km NNW 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
- 2007-08-05 19:11:26 UTC
- Depth
- 120.8 km (75.1 mi), intermediate-depth
- Epicenter
- 15.943° S, 174.263° 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 |
| 5.14 | 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 usp000fhyy. 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 239°, dip 31°, rake 124°
- Nodal plane 2
- Strike 21°, dip 65°, rake 71°
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Station coverage gap
- 45°
- Stations used
- 156
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.1 and up: 6 in the 60 days after this one and 1 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 3.6104 km W of Hihifo, Tonga · 6995 days ago · 291 km deep · 55 km away
- 3.8126 km SW of Hihifo, Tonga · 6979 days ago · 174 km deep · 93 km away
- 4.2106 km WSW of Hihifo, Tonga · 6976 days ago · 205 km deep · 67 km away
- 4.237 km NE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6973 days ago · 35 km deep · 79 km away
- 5.298 km NNW of Hihifo, Tonga · 6965 days ago · 20 km deep · 95 km away
- 4.6126 km WNW of Hihifo, Tonga · 6958 days ago · 258 km deep · 82 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp000fhyy (also filed as gcmtc200708051911a, gcmt20070805191126, iscgem13199948). Read Mon, Oct 5, 2026, 1:38 PM UTC.