M5.1 earthquake 76 km NNW of Nuku‘alofa, Tonga
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck 76 km NNW of Nuku‘alofa, Tonga on Wed, Nov 30, 2016, 8:07 AM GMT+14 (18:07 UTC), 73 km (45 mi) below the surface.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.1 (Mwc, centroid moment), moderate
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2016-11-29 18:07:45 UTC
- Depth
- 72.5 km (45.1 mi), intermediate-depth
- Epicenter
- 20.479° S, 175.416° 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.1 | Mwc, centroid moment | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed · 9 stations |
| 5.11 | Mw, moment | ISC-GEM global catalog | Final · ±0.1 |
Did you feel it?
No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.
Fault motion and ground failure
How the rock slipped, from the moment tensor, and the USGS estimate of landslides and liquefaction.
- Faulting
- Strike-slip
- Moment magnitude
- 5.1 Mwc
- Nodal plane 1
- Strike 274°, dip 55°, rake -16°
- Nodal plane 2
- Strike 13°, dip 77°, rake -144°
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Location uncertainty
- About 5.7 km horizontally, 4.7 km in depth
- Depth from
- From location
- Station coverage gap
- 77°
- Stations used
- 183
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.1 and up: 2 in the 60 days after this one and 2 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.7139 km NW of Nuku‘alofa, Tonga · 3552 days ago · 178 km deep · 74 km away
- 4.643 km N of Nuku‘alofa, Tonga · 3544 days ago · 79 km deep · 36 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us10007d4u (also filed as iscgem615086078). Read Mon, Oct 5, 2026, 1:48 PM UTC.