M3.6 earthquake Tonga
A magnitude 3.6 earthquake struck in Tonga on Wed, Nov 5, 2008, 3:17 AM GMT-12 (15:17 UTC), 312 km (194 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M4.5 158 km SW 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
- 3.6 (mb, body-wave), minor
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2008-11-05 15:17:20 UTC
- Depth
- 312.0 km (193.9 mi), deep
- Epicenter
- 17.182° S, 174.978° W
- Region
- Tonga
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
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 usp000gn0v. 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.
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Depth from
- FROM_LOCATION
- Station coverage gap
- 185°, poorly surrounded by stations
- Stations used
- 10
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.5 and up: 6 in the 60 days after this one and 4 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 3.4151 km NNW of Neiafu, Tonga · 6540 days ago · 150 km deep · 64 km away
- 4.2154 km SSW of Hihifo, Tonga · 6539 days ago · 223 km deep · 51 km away
- 4.5158 km SW of Hihifo, Tonga · 6530 days ago · 227 km deep · 27 km away
- 3.5124 km SW of Hihifo, Tonga · 6510 days ago · 185 km deep · 64 km away
- 3.6160 km NW of Neiafu, Tonga · 6505 days ago · 304 km deep · 49 km away
- 3.6148 km SW of Hihifo, Tonga · 6489 days ago · 200 km deep · 49 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp000gn0v. Read Sun, Oct 4, 2026, 5:14 PM UTC.