M5.2 earthquake 79 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga
A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck 79 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga on Thu, Oct 2, 2008, 9:34 PM GMT-11 (08:34 UTC), 10 km (6 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M6.0 93 km NNW 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
- 2008-10-03 08:34:05 UTC
- Depth
- 10.0 km (6.2 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 15.285° S, 173.536° 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 |
| 5.21 | 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 usp000gj7c. 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 214°, dip 11°, rake -161°
- Nodal plane 2
- Strike 105°, dip 86°, rake -80°
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Depth from
- OPERATOR_ASSIGNED
- Station coverage gap
- 68°
- Stations used
- 120
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.2 and up: 14 in the 60 days after this one and 8 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 5.683 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6568 days ago · 10 km deep · 5 km away
- 4.289 km N of Hihifo, Tonga · 6561 days ago · 38 km deep · 31 km away
- 4.486 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6559 days ago · 10 km deep · 14 km away
- 4.562 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6556 days ago · 37 km deep · 20 km away
- 4.4122 km ENE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6548 days ago · 25 km deep · 96 km away
- 4.376 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6541 days ago · 144 km deep · 3 km away
- 6.093 km NNW of Hihifo, Tonga · 6539 days ago · 121 km deep · 75 km away
- 5.592 km NNW of Hihifo, Tonga · 6539 days ago · 140 km deep · 73 km away
- 4.3111 km N of Hihifo, Tonga · 6537 days ago · 35 km deep · 42 km away
- 3.994 km ENE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6531 days ago · 35 km deep · 61 km away
- 4.344 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6527 days ago · 96 km deep · 36 km away
- 3.952 km ESE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6519 days ago · 10 km deep · 89 km away
- 4.2108 km NE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6519 days ago · 10 km deep · 61 km away
- 4.678 km ENE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6519 days ago · 35 km deep · 61 km away
Before
- 4.194 km N of Hihifo, Tonga · 6577 days ago · 10 km deep · 21 km away
- 4.414 km SSE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6583 days ago · 107 km deep · 91 km away
- 5.216 km SSW of Hihifo, Tonga · 6587 days ago · 121 km deep · 96 km away
- 4.686 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6589 days ago · 35 km deep · 9 km away
- 4.283 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6589 days ago · 35 km deep · 5 km away
- 4.088 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6590 days ago · 10 km deep · 11 km away
- 4.2103 km N of Hihifo, Tonga · 6593 days ago · 10 km deep · 40 km away
- 4.293 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6600 days ago · 10 km deep · 17 km away
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp000gj7c (also filed as gcmtc200810030834a, gcmt20081003083405, iscgem11327837). Read Sun, Oct 4, 2026, 3:07 AM UTC.