M5.2 earthquake 73 km W of Hihifo, Tonga
A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck 73 km W of Hihifo, Tonga on Sun, Jan 27, 2008, 4:28 AM GMT-11 (15:28 UTC), 20 km (12 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M5.5 143 km WNW 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
- 2008-01-27 15:28:25 UTC
- Depth
- 20.0 km (12.4 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 15.891° S, 174.476° 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 usp000fxjx. 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 286°, dip 9°, rake 119°
- Nodal plane 2
- Strike 77°, dip 82°, rake 85°
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Station coverage gap
- 127°
- Stations used
- 19
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.2 and up: 9 in the 60 days after this one and 4 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 5.5143 km WNW of Hihifo, Tonga · 6820 days ago · 34 km deep · 74 km away
- 5.090 km NW of Hihifo, Tonga · 6810 days ago · 10 km deep · 44 km away
- 3.7142 km W of Hihifo, Tonga · 6803 days ago · 271 km deep · 70 km away
- 4.093 km SSW of Hihifo, Tonga · 6778 days ago · 91 km deep · 92 km away
- 5.0132 km W of Hihifo, Tonga · 6776 days ago · 35 km deep · 61 km away
- 3.8126 km W of Hihifo, Tonga · 6773 days ago · 10 km deep · 54 km away
- 5.2109 km NW of Hihifo, Tonga · 6772 days ago · 20 km deep · 71 km away
- 4.391 km SW of Hihifo, Tonga · 6771 days ago · 35 km deep · 73 km away
- 3.958 km SSW of Hihifo, Tonga · 6770 days ago · 35 km deep · 87 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp000fxjx (also filed as gcmtc200801271528a, gcmt20080127152825, iscgem13343156). Read Sun, Oct 4, 2026, 7:04 PM UTC.