M5.3 earthquake 128 km NW of Pangai, Tonga
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck 128 km NW of Pangai, Tonga on Fri, Dec 12, 2008, 5:29 AM GMT+13 (16:29 UTC), 238 km (148 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
- 2008-12-11 16:29:10 UTC
- Depth
- 237.8 km (147.8 mi), intermediate-depth
- Epicenter
- 19.111° S, 175.325° 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 |
| 5.28 | 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 usp000gqda. 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 278°, dip 14°, rake 151°
- Nodal plane 2
- Strike 37°, dip 83°, rake 78°
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Depth from
- CONSTRAINED_BY_DEPTH_PHASES
- Station coverage gap
- 44°
- Stations used
- 171
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
- 4.1138 km W of Neiafu, Tonga · 6487 days ago · 255 km deep · 47 km away
- 5.090 km NW of Pangai, Tonga · 6483 days ago · 150 km deep · 45 km away · felt by 4
- 4.5134 km WNW of Neiafu, Tonga · 6472 days ago · 214 km deep · 99 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp000gqda (also filed as gcmtc200812111629a, gcmt20081211162910, iscgem12076948). Read Sat, Oct 3, 2026, 10:53 AM UTC.