M5.0 earthquake 76 km WSW of Neiafu, Tonga
A magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck 76 km WSW of Neiafu, Tonga on Sun, Aug 10, 2008, 6:19 PM GMT+13 (05:19 UTC), 120 km (74 mi) below the surface.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.0 (Mwc, centroid moment), moderate
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2008-08-10 05:19:51 UTC
- Depth
- 119.7 km (74.4 mi), intermediate-depth
- Epicenter
- 18.855° S, 174.680° 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.0 | Mwc, centroid moment | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed |
| 5.0 | 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 usp000geam. 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 331°, dip 24°, rake -152°
- Nodal plane 2
- Strike 216°, dip 79°, rake -69°
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Depth from
- CONSTRAINED_BY_DEPTH_PHASES
- Station coverage gap
- 48°
- Stations used
- 95
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.0 and up: 6 in the 60 days after this one and 2 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.3107 km NW of Pangai, Tonga · 6627 days ago · 198 km deep · 70 km away
- 4.780 km W of Neiafu, Tonga · 6624 days ago · 68 km deep · 18 km away
- 4.4120 km WNW of Neiafu, Tonga · 6606 days ago · 170 km deep · 93 km away
- 4.5136 km W of Neiafu, Tonga · 6599 days ago · 35 km deep · 63 km away
- 4.8129 km W of Neiafu, Tonga · 6592 days ago · 150 km deep · 64 km away
- 4.549 km SW of Neiafu, Tonga · 6583 days ago · 35 km deep · 37 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp000geam (also filed as gcmtc200808100519a, gcmt20080810051951). Read Mon, Oct 5, 2026, 2:00 AM UTC.