M5.3 earthquake 166 km ESE of Neiafu, Tonga
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck 166 km ESE of Neiafu, Tonga on Tue, Feb 9, 2016, 9:59 AM GMT+13 (20:59 UTC), 36 km (22 mi) below the surface.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.3 (mb, body-wave), moderate
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2016-02-08 20:59:29 UTC
- Depth
- 35.6 km (22.1 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 19.091° S, 172.474° 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.3 | mb, body-wave | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed · ±0.034 · 296 stations |
| 5.27 | 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 7.5 km horizontally, 5.0 km in depth
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.03
- Depth from
- From location
- Station coverage gap
- 32°
- Stations used
- 146
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.3 and up: 3 in the 60 days after this one and 3 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.6165 km ESE of Neiafu, Tonga · 3891 days ago · 10 km deep · 2 km away
- 5.0152 km E of Pangai, Tonga · 3890 days ago · 28 km deep · 74 km away
- 4.4129 km ESE of Neiafu, Tonga · 3871 days ago · 10 km deep · 46 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us20004yui (also filed as gcmt20160208205929, iscgem608320817). Read Mon, Oct 5, 2026, 7:38 AM UTC.