M5.0 earthquake 184 km ENE of Neiafu, Tonga
A magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck 184 km ENE of Neiafu, Tonga on Sun, Jul 31, 2016, 6:51 PM GMT-11 (05:51 UTC), 10 km (6 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M5.2 233 km SE 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
- 5.0 (mb, body-wave), moderate
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2016-08-01 05:51:24 UTC
- Depth
- 10.0 km (6.2 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 18.049° S, 172.357° 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.0 | mb, body-wave | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed · ±0.046 · 148 stations |
| 4.97 | 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 10.0 km horizontally, 1.9 km in depth
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.05
- Depth from
- Operator assigned
- Station coverage gap
- 62°
- Stations used
- 147
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.0 and up: 3 in the 60 days after this one and 2 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 5.2233 km SE of Hihifo, Tonga · 3684 days ago · 10 km deep · 92 km away
- 4.4115 km NE of Neiafu, Tonga · 3683 days ago · 10 km deep · 77 km away
- 4.6201 km ENE of Neiafu, Tonga · 3680 days ago · 40 km deep · 29 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us1000693x (also filed as iscgem609265411). Read Sun, Oct 4, 2026, 6:48 PM UTC.