Tonga earthquakes

M5.2 earthquake 33 km E of Neiafu, Tonga

A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck 33 km E of Neiafu, Tonga on Thu, Jul 7, 2016, 2:13 AM GMT+13 (13:13 UTC), 10 km (6 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M5.5 76 km ENE of Pangai, Tonga. 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: 5.2 (mb, body-wave), moderate
Magnitude from: USGS National Earthquake Information Center
Local time: Thu, Jul 7, 2016, 2:13 AM GMT+13
UTC: 2016-07-06 13:13:58 UTC
Depth: 10.0 km (6.2 mi), shallow
Epicenter: 18.658° S, 173.662° W
Region: Tonga
Felt reports: 1
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
5.2	mb, body-wave	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Preferred · Reviewed · ±0.061 · 89 stations
5.18	Mw, moment	ISC-GEM global catalog	Final · ±0.1

What happened

The USGS’s account of the effects of this earthquake.

Felt at Neiafu.

From the USGS event page for us100061af. U.S. Geological Survey text and figures are in the public domain.

Did you feel it?

1 person reported to the USGS what they felt; the strongest reported shaking was III, weak shaking.

How well it is located

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Location uncertainty: About 9.8 km horizontally, 1.8 km in depth
Magnitude uncertainty: ±0.06
Depth from: Operator assigned
Station coverage gap: 55°
Stations used: 106

Nearest places

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

Nuku‘alofa, TongaPopulation 22,400. Forecast319 kmNNE

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 2.2 and up: 8 in the 60 days after this one and 5 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 us100061af (also filed as iscgem609084374). Read Mon, Oct 5, 2026, 1:49 AM UTC.