Tonga earthquakes

M5.1 earthquake 297 km WNW of Houma, Tonga

A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck 297 km WNW of Houma, Tonga on Sun, Apr 26, 2015, 1:23 PM GMT+13 (00:23 UTC), 487 km (303 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M6.0 Fiji region. This one was a foreshock.

Nuku‘alofa forecast More in Tonga

Map

Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.

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The earthquake

Magnitude: 5.1 (mb, body-wave), moderate
Magnitude from: USGS National Earthquake Information Center
Local time: Sun, Apr 26, 2015, 1:23 PM GMT+13
UTC: 2015-04-26 00:23:52 UTC
Depth: 487.4 km (302.8 mi), deep
Epicenter: 19.833° S, 177.778° 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
5.1	mb, body-wave	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Preferred · Reviewed · ±0.042 · 180 stations
5.28	Mw, moment	ISC-GEM global catalog	Final · ±0.1

Did you feel it?

No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.

How well it is located

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Location uncertainty: About 5.7 km horizontally, 5.0 km in depth
Magnitude uncertainty: ±0.04
Depth from: From location
Station coverage gap: 28°
Stations used: 299

Nearest places

Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.

Nuku‘alofa, TongaPopulation 22,400. Forecast305 kmWNW

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 2.1 and up: 30 in the 60 days after this one and 14 in the 30 days before it.

After

Before

Earthquakes today Tonga earthquakes Live radar here

Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us200029a4 (also filed as iscgem607211044). Read Sat, Oct 3, 2026, 11:16 AM UTC.