M5.2 earthquake 92 km E of Hihifo, Tonga
A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck 92 km E of Hihifo, Tonga on Sun, Jan 13, 2008, 12:16 AM GMT-11 (11:16 UTC), 37 km (23 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M5.4 58 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
- 5.2 (Mwc, centroid moment), moderate
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2008-01-13 11:16:40 UTC
- Depth
- 36.6 km (22.7 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 16.057° S, 172.937° 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 |
| 5.18 | 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 usp000fwmj. 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
- Reverse (thrust)
- Nodal plane 1
- Strike 179°, dip 29°, rake 77°
- Nodal plane 2
- Strike 14°, dip 62°, rake 97°
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Depth from
- CONSTRAINED_BY_DEPTH_PHASES
- Station coverage gap
- 62°
- Stations used
- 149
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.2 and up: 5 in the 60 days after this one and 8 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.786 km ESE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6838 days ago · 35 km deep · 18 km away
- 5.355 km SSE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6830 days ago · 17 km deep · 83 km away
- 4.9112 km E of Hihifo, Tonga · 6813 days ago · 10 km deep · 30 km away
- 5.458 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6803 days ago · 76 km deep · 93 km away
- 5.077 km NE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6784 days ago · 50 km deep · 65 km away
Before
- 3.8102 km E of Hihifo, Tonga · 6839 days ago · 35 km deep · 16 km away
- 4.992 km ESE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6839 days ago · 35 km deep · 26 km away
- 4.676 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6850 days ago · 10 km deep · 96 km away
- 4.7118 km E of Hihifo, Tonga · 6850 days ago · 35 km deep · 35 km away
- 3.862 km SE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6852 days ago · 10 km deep · 53 km away
- 4.4106 km NE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6859 days ago · 10 km deep · 85 km away
- 4.694 km ENE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6862 days ago · 10 km deep · 65 km away
- 4.574 km NE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6863 days ago · 10 km deep · 62 km away
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp000fwmj (also filed as gcmtc200801131116a, gcmt20080113111640, iscgem13333770). Read Sat, Oct 3, 2026, 3:18 PM UTC.