M5.2 earthquake 55 km SSE of ‘Ohonua, Tonga
A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck 55 km SSE of ‘Ohonua, Tonga on Thu, Dec 15, 2016, 2:18 PM GMT+14 (00:18 UTC), 10 km (6 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M5.3 6 km SSW of Vaini, Tonga. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.2 (mb, body-wave), moderate
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2016-12-15 00:18:43 UTC
- Depth
- 10.0 km (6.2 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 21.815° S, 174.787° W
- Region
- Tonga
- Felt reports
- 1
- 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.2 | mb, body-wave | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed · ±0.061 · 89 stations |
| 5.32 | Mw, moment | ISC-GEM global catalog | Final · ±0.1 |
What happened
The USGS’s account of the effects of this earthquake.
Felt at Nuku`alofa.
From the USGS event page for us200080vn. U.S. Geological Survey text and figures are in the public domain.
Did you feel it?
1 person reported to the USGS what they felt; the strongest reported shaking was III, weak shaking.
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Location uncertainty
- About 8.6 km horizontally, 1.8 km in depth
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.06
- Depth from
- Operator assigned
- Station coverage gap
- 68°
- Stations used
- 133
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.2 and up: 5 in the 60 days after this one and 3 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.6131 km SSW of ‘Ohonua, Tonga · 3577 days ago · 9 km deep · 96 km away
- 5.248 km S of ‘Ohonua, Tonga · 3577 days ago · 10 km deep · 13 km away
- 4.8137 km SE of ‘Ohonua, Tonga · 3564 days ago · 10 km deep · 99 km away
- 4.9147 km SSE of ‘Ohonua, Tonga · 3525 days ago · 10 km deep · 92 km away
- 5.36 km SSW of Vaini, Tonga · 3522 days ago · 10 km deep · 77 km away · felt by 1
Before
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us200080vn (also filed as iscgem611831288). Read Sat, Oct 3, 2026, 2:01 PM UTC.