M4.2 earthquake 239 km W of Hihifo, Tonga
A magnitude 4.2 earthquake struck 239 km W of Hihifo, Tonga on Fri, Dec 16, 2016, 9:55 PM GMT-12 (09:55 UTC), 356 km (221 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M4.3 224 km W 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
- 4.2 (mb, body-wave), light
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2016-12-17 09:55:49 UTC
- Depth
- 356.0 km (221.2 mi), deep
- Epicenter
- 16.043° S, 176.032° W
- Region
- Tonga
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
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 12.8 km horizontally, 16.7 km in depth
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.12
- Depth from
- From location
- Station coverage gap
- 157°
- Stations used
- 26
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.5 and up: 2 in the 60 days after this one and 0 in the 30 days before it.
After
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us10007ppx. Read Sun, Oct 4, 2026, 8:15 PM UTC.