Tonga earthquakes

M4.5 earthquake 284 km WNW of Haveluloto, Tonga

A magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck 284 km WNW of Haveluloto, Tonga on Mon, Sep 15, 2008, 3:31 PM GMT+13 (02:31 UTC), 476 km (296 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M5.3 Fiji region. This one was a foreshock.

Nuku‘alofa forecast More in Tonga

Map

Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.

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The earthquake

Magnitude: 4.5 (mb, body-wave), light
Magnitude from: USGS National Earthquake Information Center
Local time: Mon, Sep 15, 2008, 3:31 PM GMT+13
UTC: 2008-09-15 02:31:33 UTC
Depth: 476.0 km (295.8 mi), deep
Epicenter: 20.074° S, 177.692° W
Region: Tonga
Tsunami flag: No
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

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 usp000gh2d. 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.

How well it is located

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Depth from: CONSTRAINED_BY_DEPTH_PHASES
Station coverage gap: 76°
Stations used: 136

Nearest places

Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.

Nuku‘alofa, TongaPopulation 22,400. Forecast285 kmWNW

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 1.5 and up: 32 in the 60 days after this one and 10 in the 30 days before it.

After

Before

Earthquakes today Tonga earthquakes Live radar here

Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp000gh2d. Read Fri, Oct 2, 2026, 4:06 PM UTC.