M4.5 earthquake 44 km S of Hihifo, Tonga
A magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck 44 km S of Hihifo, Tonga on Sat, May 5, 2018, 7:48 AM GMT+13 (18:48 UTC), 140 km (87 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M5.1 39 km WSW 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
- 4.5 (mb, body-wave), light
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2018-05-04 18:48:36 UTC
- Depth
- 139.8 km (86.9 mi), intermediate-depth
- Epicenter
- 16.351° S, 173.834° 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.5 | mb, body-wave | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed · ±0.046 · 137 stations |
| 5.0 | 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 11.1 km horizontally, 6.1 km in depth
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.05
- Depth from
- From location
- Station coverage gap
- 56°
- Stations used
- 110
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.5 and up: 5 in the 60 days after this one and 1 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.663 km ESE of Hihifo, Tonga · 3066 days ago · 10 km deep · 59 km away
- 4.677 km ESE of Hihifo, Tonga · 3036 days ago · 10 km deep · 71 km away
- 4.378 km ESE of Hihifo, Tonga · 3036 days ago · 39 km deep · 79 km away
- 5.139 km WSW of Hihifo, Tonga · 3026 days ago · 120 km deep · 38 km away
- 4.695 km SE of Hihifo, Tonga · 3016 days ago · 35 km deep · 76 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us1000dy3p (also filed as iscgem611928696). Read Fri, Oct 2, 2026, 2:02 PM UTC.