M4.8 earthquake 137 km SE of ‘Ohonua, Tonga
A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck 137 km SE of ‘Ohonua, Tonga on Sat, Dec 31, 2016, 12:59 AM GMT+14 (10:59 UTC), 10 km (6 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M4.9 147 km SSE of ‘Ohonua, Tonga. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 4.8 (mb, body-wave), light
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2016-12-30 10:59:43 UTC
- Depth
- 10.0 km (6.2 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 22.039° S, 173.859° W
- Region
- Tonga
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
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 8.5 km horizontally, 1.8 km in depth
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.13
- Depth from
- Operator assigned
- Station coverage gap
- 91°
- Stations used
- 22
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.8 and up: 1 in the 60 days after this one and 2 in the 30 days before it.
After
Before
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us10007tqv. Read Sat, Oct 3, 2026, 11:56 AM UTC.