Tonga earthquakes

M5.2 earthquake 130 km ENE of Hihifo, Tonga

A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck 130 km ENE of Hihifo, Tonga on Fri, May 18, 2018, 7:37 PM GMT+13 (06:37 UTC), 10 km (6 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M5.8 141 km SSW of Gataivai, Samoa. This one was a foreshock.

Apia forecast More in Tonga

Map

Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.

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The earthquake

Magnitude: 5.2 (mb, body-wave), moderate
Magnitude from: USGS National Earthquake Information Center
Local time: Fri, May 18, 2018, 7:37 PM GMT+13
UTC: 2018-05-18 06:37:02 UTC
Depth: 10.0 km (6.2 mi), shallow
Epicenter: 15.323° S, 172.773° 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
5.2	mb, body-wave	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Preferred · Reviewed · ±0.075 · 58 stations
4.98	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 8.4 km horizontally, 1.8 km in depth
Magnitude uncertainty: ±0.07
Depth from: Operator assigned
Station coverage gap: 89°
Stations used: 69

Nearest places

Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.

Apia, SamoaPopulation 40,407. Forecast198 kmSSW

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 2.2 and up: 15 in the 60 days after this one and 1 in the 30 days before it.

After

Before

4.680 km NE of Hihifo, TongaFri, May 4, 2:19 AM GMT+13 · 3075 days ago · 10 km deep · 53 km away

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Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us1000e7uq (also filed as iscgem611939187). Read Sat, Oct 3, 2026, 1:42 AM UTC.