M4.9 earthquake Tonga
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck in Tonga on Sun, Dec 7, 2008, 12:36 PM GMT+13 (23:36 UTC), 260 km (161 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M5.3 128 km NW of Pangai, Tonga. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 4.9 (mb, body-wave), light
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2008-12-06 23:36:46 UTC
- Depth
- 259.9 km (161.5 mi), intermediate-depth
- Epicenter
- 19.374° S, 175.915° 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 usp000gq2r. 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.
- Station coverage gap
- 60°
- Stations used
- 106
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.9 and up: 3 in the 60 days after this one and 1 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.5155 km WNW of Pangai, Tonga · 6507 days ago · 252 km deep · 26 km away
- 5.3128 km NW of Pangai, Tonga · 6506 days ago · 238 km deep · 68 km away
- 4.4244 km WNW of Pangai, Tonga · 6504 days ago · 301 km deep · 82 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp000gq2r. Read Sun, Oct 4, 2026, 8:09 AM UTC.