M5.2 earthquake 16 km SSW of Hihifo, Tonga
A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck 16 km SSW of Hihifo, Tonga on Sat, Sep 20, 2008, 7:36 PM GMT-11 (06:36 UTC), 121 km (75 mi) below the surface.
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
- 2008-09-21 06:36:29 UTC
- Depth
- 120.6 km (74.9 mi), intermediate-depth
- Epicenter
- 16.094° S, 173.842° 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 usp000ghf7. 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 normal
- Nodal plane 1
- Strike 20°, dip 33°, rake -51°
- Nodal plane 2
- Strike 155°, dip 65°, rake -113°
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Depth from
- CONSTRAINED_BY_DEPTH_PHASES
- Station coverage gap
- 56°
- Stations used
- 199
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.2 and up: 7 in the 60 days after this one and 5 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.414 km SSE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6582 days ago · 107 km deep · 9 km away
- 5.279 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6574 days ago · 10 km deep · 96 km away
- 4.494 km SE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6565 days ago · 20 km deep · 89 km away
- 4.443 km SW of Hihifo, Tonga · 6564 days ago · 72 km deep · 28 km away
- 4.562 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6556 days ago · 37 km deep · 79 km away
- 4.861 km SSE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6547 days ago · 96 km deep · 50 km away
- 4.376 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6541 days ago · 144 km deep · 93 km away
Before
- 4.283 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6589 days ago · 35 km deep · 100 km away
- 4.058 km S of Hihifo, Tonga · 6600 days ago · 51 km deep · 43 km away
- 5.377 km NE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6605 days ago · 10 km deep · 93 km away
- 4.374 km E of Hihifo, Tonga · 6608 days ago · 10 km deep · 83 km away
- 4.858 km S of Hihifo, Tonga · 6615 days ago · 11 km deep · 44 km away
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp000ghf7 (also filed as gcmtc200809210636a, gcmt20080921063629, iscgem11282351). Read Sat, Oct 3, 2026, 9:40 AM UTC.