M4.2 earthquake Tonga
A magnitude 4.2 earthquake struck in Tonga on Sun, Jan 10, 2016, 8:03 PM GMT-12 (08:03 UTC), 274 km (170 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M4.5 69 km SW of Hihifo, Tonga. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 4.2 (mb, body-wave), light
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2016-01-11 08:03:10 UTC
- Depth
- 273.8 km (170.1 mi), intermediate-depth
- Epicenter
- 16.321° S, 175.031° 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 10.7 km horizontally, 8.3 km in depth
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.12
- Depth from
- From location
- Station coverage gap
- 68°
- Stations used
- 23
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.5 and up: 3 in the 60 days after this one and 2 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.569 km SW of Hihifo, Tonga · 3914 days ago · 154 km deep · 85 km away
- 4.3117 km W of Hihifo, Tonga · 3891 days ago · 308 km deep · 29 km away
- 4.2180 km W of Hihifo, Tonga · 3874 days ago · 326 km deep · 72 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us10004ewl. Read Mon, Oct 5, 2026, 8:34 AM UTC.