M4.9 earthquake 293 km SSW of ‘Ohonua, Tonga
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck 293 km SSW of ‘Ohonua, Tonga on Fri, May 5, 2017, 2:23 PM GMT+13 (01:23 UTC), 10 km (6 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M5.0 273 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
- 4.9 (mb, body-wave), light
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2017-05-05 01:23:26 UTC
- Depth
- 10.0 km (6.2 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 23.867° S, 175.792° W
- Region
- Tonga
- 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.9 | mb, body-wave | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed · ±0.055 · 110 stations |
| 4.99 | Mw, moment | ISC-GEM global catalog | Final · ±0.1 |
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 9.9 km horizontally, 1.3 km in depth
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.06
- Depth from
- Operator assigned
- Station coverage gap
- 89°
- Stations used
- 73
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.9 and up: 2 in the 60 days after this one and 1 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.6292 km S of ‘Ohonua, Tonga · 3419 days ago · 10 km deep · 35 km away
- 5.0273 km SSW of Vaini, Tonga · 3390 days ago · 61 km deep · 100 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us10008pjf (also filed as iscgem611833751). Read Mon, Oct 5, 2026, 4:38 AM UTC.