M5.4 earthquake 156 km NE of Neiafu, Tonga
A magnitude 5.4 earthquake struck 156 km NE of Neiafu, Tonga on Wed, Aug 2, 2017, 8:53 PM GMT-12 (08:53 UTC), 10 km (6 mi) below the surface.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.4 (Mww, W-phase moment), moderate
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2017-08-03 08:53:30 UTC
- Depth
- 10.0 km (6.2 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 17.760° S, 172.835° 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.4 | Mww, W-phase moment | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed · ±0.068 · 21 stations |
| 5.33 | Mw, moment | ISC-GEM global catalog | Final · ±0.1 |
| 5.6 | Mi | NOAA Pacific Tsunami Warning Center | Reviewed · 7 stations |
Did you feel it?
1 person reported to the USGS what they felt; the strongest reported shaking was I, not felt shaking.
Fault motion and ground failure
How the rock slipped, from the moment tensor, and the USGS estimate of landslides and liquefaction.
- Faulting
- Reverse (thrust)
- Moment magnitude
- 5.4 Mww
- Nodal plane 1
- Strike 31°, dip 46°, rake 107°
- Nodal plane 2
- Strike 188°, dip 47°, rake 73°
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Location uncertainty
- About 10.7 km horizontally, 1.8 km in depth
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.07
- Depth from
- Operator assigned
- Station coverage gap
- 64°
- Stations used
- 103
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.4 and up: 8 in the 60 days after this one and 1 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 5.0197 km NE of Neiafu, Tonga · 3350 days ago · 10 km deep · 42 km away
- 4.9110 km ENE of Neiafu, Tonga · 3331 days ago · 10 km deep · 69 km away
- 4.7229 km NE of Neiafu, Tonga · 3327 days ago · 10 km deep · 75 km away
- 4.5237 km SE of Hihifo, Tonga · 3327 days ago · 10 km deep · 90 km away
- 4.6157 km ENE of Neiafu, Tonga · 3325 days ago · 10 km deep · 35 km away
- 4.9188 km NE of Neiafu, Tonga · 3324 days ago · 10 km deep · 40 km away
- 4.4190 km NE of Neiafu, Tonga · 3321 days ago · 10 km deep · 34 km away
- 4.5213 km NE of Neiafu, Tonga · 3321 days ago · 10 km deep · 57 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us2000a3zr (also filed as pt17215050, iscgem616639696). Read Sun, Oct 4, 2026, 11:04 PM UTC.