M4.2 earthquake 22 km NW of Hihifo, Tonga
A magnitude 4.2 earthquake struck 22 km NW of Hihifo, Tonga on Sun, Dec 31, 2017, 2:13 PM GMT+14 (00:13 UTC), 129 km (80 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M4.9 73 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
- 2017-12-31 00:13:03 UTC
- Depth
- 129.0 km (80.1 mi), intermediate-depth
- Epicenter
- 15.796° S, 173.934° 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 8.9 km horizontally, 9.5 km in depth
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.15
- Depth from
- From location
- Station coverage gap
- 111°
- Stations used
- 19
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.5 and up: 7 in the 60 days after this one and 10 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.973 km SW of Hihifo, Tonga · 3185 days ago · 147 km deep · 79 km away
- 4.541 km NE of Hihifo, Tonga · 3183 days ago · 35 km deep · 43 km away
- 4.7103 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga · 3179 days ago · 10 km deep · 93 km away
- 4.8100 km NE of Hihifo, Tonga · 3178 days ago · 38 km deep · 99 km away
- 4.3Tonga · 3175 days ago · 117 km deep · 30 km away
- 4.974 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga · 3149 days ago · 35 km deep · 71 km away
- 4.399 km WNW of Hihifo, Tonga · 3143 days ago · 268 km deep · 81 km away
Before
- 4.443 km NW of Hihifo, Tonga · 3203 days ago · 118 km deep · 21 km away
- 4.520 km WSW of Hihifo, Tonga · 3206 days ago · 127 km deep · 26 km away
- 4.7103 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga · 3208 days ago · 10 km deep · 94 km away
- 4.648 km SSE of Hihifo, Tonga · 3213 days ago · 10 km deep · 71 km away
- 4.541 km W of Hihifo, Tonga · 3214 days ago · 137 km deep · 34 km away
- 4.997 km NE of Hihifo, Tonga · 3218 days ago · 11 km deep · 95 km away
- 5.721 km SW of Hihifo, Tonga · 3219 days ago · 155 km deep · 36 km away · felt by 1
- 5.382 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga · 3220 days ago · 10 km deep · 76 km away · felt by 1
- 4.294 km NNW of Hihifo, Tonga · 3221 days ago · 10 km deep · 75 km away
- 4.560 km N of Hihifo, Tonga · 3222 days ago · 52 km deep · 46 km away
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Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us2000cjzb. Read Fri, Oct 2, 2026, 7:44 AM UTC.