M5.5 earthquake 92 km NNW of Hihifo, Tonga
A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck 92 km NNW of Hihifo, Tonga on Fri, Nov 7, 2008, 10:15 PM GMT-11 (09:15 UTC), 140 km (87 mi) below the surface.
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
- 2008-11-08 09:15:51 UTC
- Depth
- 140.0 km (87.0 mi), intermediate-depth
- Epicenter
- 15.218° S, 174.211° 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 |
| 5.54 | 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.
no people dead or missing; no people injured; no buildings damaged or destroyed
From the USGS event page for usp000gn7m. 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 65°, dip 42°, rake -159°
- Nodal plane 2
- Strike 320°, dip 76°, rake -49°
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Depth from
- CONSTRAINED_BY_DEPTH_PHASES
- Station coverage gap
- 49°
- Stations used
- 269
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.5 and up: 9 in the 60 days after this one and 6 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.3111 km N of Hihifo, Tonga · 6537 days ago · 35 km deep · 61 km away
- 4.344 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6527 days ago · 96 km deep · 78 km away
- 3.7121 km WNW of Hihifo, Tonga · 6525 days ago · 299 km deep · 76 km away
- 3.8156 km NW of Hihifo, Tonga · 6518 days ago · 253 km deep · 81 km away
- 4.190 km N of Hihifo, Tonga · 6498 days ago · 35 km deep · 60 km away
- 4.259 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6494 days ago · 10 km deep · 64 km away
- 4.886 km NE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6488 days ago · 35 km deep · 98 km away
- 3.867 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6486 days ago · 177 km deep · 82 km away
- 4.6137 km WNW of Hihifo, Tonga · 6480 days ago · 245 km deep · 75 km away
Before
- 6.093 km NNW of Hihifo, Tonga · 6539 days ago · 121 km deep · 2 km away
- 4.376 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6541 days ago · 144 km deep · 70 km away
- 4.562 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6556 days ago · 37 km deep · 61 km away
- 4.486 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6558 days ago · 10 km deep · 86 km away
- 4.289 km N of Hihifo, Tonga · 6561 days ago · 38 km deep · 46 km away
- 5.683 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6568 days ago · 10 km deep · 75 km away
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp000gn7m (also filed as gcmtc200811080916a, gcmt20081108091551, iscgem11396817). Read Sun, Oct 4, 2026, 1:59 AM UTC.