M5.3 earthquake 135 km ESE of Hihifo, Tonga
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck 135 km ESE of Hihifo, Tonga on Mon, Sep 15, 2008, 10:46 PM GMT-11 (09:46 UTC), 10 km (6 mi) below the surface.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.3 (Mwc, centroid moment), moderate
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2008-09-16 09:46:54 UTC
- Depth
- 10.0 km (6.2 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 16.637° S, 172.739° 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.3 | Mwc, centroid moment | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed |
| 5.32 | Mw, moment | ISC-GEM global catalog | Final · ±0.1 |
| 5.3 | 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 usp000gh54. 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 173°, dip 12°, rake 67°
- Nodal plane 2
- Strike 16°, dip 79°, rake 95°
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Depth from
- OPERATOR_ASSIGNED
- Station coverage gap
- 48°
- Stations used
- 215
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.3 and up: 3 in the 60 days after this one and 2 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.494 km SE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6565 days ago · 20 km deep · 46 km away
- 4.861 km SSE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6547 days ago · 96 km deep · 94 km away
- 4.5120 km ESE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6535 days ago · 10 km deep · 21 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp000gh54 (also filed as gcmtc200809160946a, gcmt20080916094654, iscgem11277601). Read Sat, Oct 3, 2026, 1:20 PM UTC.