M6.4 earthquake 118 km WNW of Neiafu, Tonga
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck 118 km WNW of Neiafu, Tonga on Sun, Sep 25, 2016, 10:07 AM GMT+13 (21:07 UTC), 202 km (126 mi) below the surface.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 6.4 (Mww, W-phase moment), strong
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2016-09-24 21:07:15 UTC
- Depth
- 202.0 km (125.5 mi), intermediate-depth
- Epicenter
- 18.171° S, 174.984° W
- Region
- Tonga
- Felt reports
- 5
- Strongest shaking
- IV, light shaking
- PAGER alert
- Green
- 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6.4 | Mww, W-phase moment | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed |
| 6.41 | Mw, moment | ISC-GEM global catalog | Final · ±0.1 |
| 6.4 | Mwb, body-wave moment | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Moment tensor · Reviewed |
What happened
The USGS’s account of the effects of this earthquake.
Felt at Neiafu, Nuku'alofa, 'Ohonua and Vaini.
From the USGS event page for us10006scl. U.S. Geological Survey text and figures are in the public domain.
Shaking
The USGS ShakeMap: shaking estimated from seismic stations and the quake’s size, on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale.
- Strongest estimated
- IV, light shaking
- Map
- Automatic
Did you feel it?
5 people reported to the USGS what they felt; the strongest reported shaking was IV, light shaking.
Estimated impact
The USGS PAGER system estimates deaths and economic losses from the shaking and the population and buildings exposed to it.
- Alert level
- Green: little or no damage or loss of life expected
Fault motion and ground failure
How the rock slipped, from the moment tensor, and the USGS estimate of landslides and liquefaction.
- Faulting
- Normal
- Moment magnitude
- 6.4 Mww
- Nodal plane 1
- Strike 5°, dip 78°, rake -120°
- Nodal plane 2
- Strike 256°, dip 32°, rake -23°
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Location uncertainty
- About 8.2 km horizontally, 1.8 km in depth
- Depth from
- From modeling of broad-band P waveforms
- Station coverage gap
- 17°
- Stations used
- 461
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 3.4 and up: 5 in the 60 days after this one and 3 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.580 km NNW of Neiafu, Tonga · 3650 days ago · 134 km deep · 80 km away
- 4.5146 km WNW of Neiafu, Tonga · 3648 days ago · 201 km deep · 29 km away
- 4.4162 km WNW of Neiafu, Tonga · 3627 days ago · 225 km deep · 45 km away
- 4.8154 km NW of Neiafu, Tonga · 3625 days ago · 211 km deep · 47 km away
- 4.1166 km NW of Neiafu, Tonga · 3617 days ago · 247 km deep · 86 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us10006scl (also filed as gcmt20160924210713, iscgem609577618). Read Sat, Oct 3, 2026, 6:16 PM UTC.