M5.3 earthquake 177 km NW of Hihifo, Tonga
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck 177 km NW of Hihifo, Tonga on Sun, Sep 30, 2007, 9:11 AM GMT-11 (20:11 UTC), 35 km (22 mi) below the surface.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.3 (Mwc, centroid moment), moderate
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2007-09-30 20:11:35 UTC
- Depth
- 35.0 km (21.7 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 14.986° S, 175.120° 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.3 | Mwc, centroid moment | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed |
| 5.27 | Mw, moment | ISC-GEM global catalog | Final · ±0.1 |
| 5.3 | 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 usp000fpjw. 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 38°, dip 82°, rake -176°
- Nodal plane 2
- Strike 308°, dip 86°, rake -8°
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Depth from
- OPERATOR_ASSIGNED
- Station coverage gap
- 166°
- Stations used
- 9
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.3 and up: 5 in the 60 days after this one and 2 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 5.192 km NNW of Hihifo, Tonga · 6939 days ago · 10 km deep · 98 km away
- 5.1174 km WNW of Hihifo, Tonga · 6939 days ago · 10 km deep · 33 km away
- 4.5150 km SSE of Mata-Utu, Wallis and Futuna · 6926 days ago · 35 km deep · 76 km away
- 5.182 km NW of Hihifo, Tonga · 6914 days ago · 35 km deep · 99 km away
- 3.6163 km SE of Mata-Utu, Wallis and Futuna · 6903 days ago · 173 km deep · 68 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp000fpjw (also filed as gcmtc200709302011a, gcmt20070930201135, iscgem12974760). Read Sun, Oct 4, 2026, 12:20 AM UTC.