M5.4 earthquake 58 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga
A magnitude 5.4 earthquake struck 58 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga on Sun, Feb 17, 2008, 10:39 AM GMT-11 (21:39 UTC), 76 km (47 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M5.5 127 km NE 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
- 5.4 (Mwc, centroid moment), moderate
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2008-02-17 21:39:00 UTC
- Depth
- 76.4 km (47.5 mi), intermediate-depth
- Epicenter
- 15.479° S, 173.561° 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.4 | Mwc, centroid moment | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed |
| 5.36 | Mw, moment | ISC-GEM global catalog | Final · ±0.1 |
| 5.4 | 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 usp000fz4s. 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 274°, dip 27°, rake 155°
- Nodal plane 2
- Strike 26°, dip 79°, rake 65°
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Station coverage gap
- 58°
- Stations used
- 333
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.4 and up: 5 in the 60 days after this one and 2 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.189 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6796 days ago · 10 km deep · 31 km away
- 5.077 km NE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6785 days ago · 50 km deep · 38 km away
- 4.3105 km N of Hihifo, Tonga · 6778 days ago · 10 km deep · 52 km away
- 5.5127 km NE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6758 days ago · 35 km deep · 81 km away
- 4.192 km NE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6753 days ago · 10 km deep · 41 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp000fz4s (also filed as gcmtc200802172139a, gcmt20080217213900, iscgem10542132). Read Mon, Oct 5, 2026, 4:07 AM UTC.