M5.5 earthquake 127 km NE of Hihifo, Tonga
A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck 127 km NE of Hihifo, Tonga on Thu, Apr 3, 2008, 5:03 PM GMT-11 (04:03 UTC), 35 km (21 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M5.6 82 km N 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
- 5.5 (Mwc, centroid moment), moderate
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2008-04-04 04:03:01 UTC
- Depth
- 34.5 km (21.4 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 15.281° S, 172.836° 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.5 | Mwc, centroid moment | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed |
| 5.52 | Mw, moment | ISC-GEM global catalog | Final · ±0.1 |
| 5.5 | Mwc, centroid moment | Global CMT project | Preliminary |
What happened
The USGS’s account of the effects of this earthquake.
Felt at Pago Pago.
From the USGS event page for usp000g332. 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
- Oblique reverse
- Nodal plane 1
- Strike 155°, dip 26°, rake 139°
- Nodal plane 2
- Strike 283°, dip 73°, rake 70°
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Station coverage gap
- 53°
- Stations used
- 389
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.5 and up: 4 in the 60 days after this one and 2 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.192 km NE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6753 days ago · 10 km deep · 40 km away
- 4.4115 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6729 days ago · 35 km deep · 59 km away
- 4.190 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6704 days ago · 10 km deep · 66 km away
- 5.682 km N of Hihifo, Tonga · 6699 days ago · 35 km deep · 90 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp000g332 (also filed as gcmtc200804040403a, gcmt20080404040301, iscgem12893396). Read Mon, Oct 5, 2026, 2:35 AM UTC.