M5.3 earthquake 75 km SSE of Hihifo, Tonga
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck 75 km SSE of Hihifo, Tonga on Fri, Dec 7, 2018, 6:37 PM GMT+14 (04:37 UTC), 20 km (12 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M5.7 148 km S 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
- 5.3 (mb), moderate
- Local time
- UTC
- 2018-12-07 04:37:03 UTC
- Depth
- 19.9 km (12.4 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 16.589° S, 173.544° 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 4.2 km horizontally, 3.5 km in depth
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.03
- Depth from
- From location
- Station coverage gap
- 46°
- Stations used
- 61
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.3 and up: 9 in the 60 days after this one and 4 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.673 km ESE of Hihifo, Tonga · 2850 days ago · 35 km deep · 61 km away
- 4.292 km S of Hihifo, Tonga · 2836 days ago · 156 km deep · 39 km away
- 5.7148 km S of Hihifo, Tonga · 2834 days ago · 120 km deep · 91 km away · felt by 1
- 4.881 km ESE of Hihifo, Tonga · 2813 days ago · 35 km deep · 68 km away
- 4.3125 km SSW of Hihifo, Tonga · 2806 days ago · 183 km deep · 87 km away
- 4.596 km SSE of Hihifo, Tonga · 2805 days ago · 72 km deep · 24 km away
- 4.977 km E of Hihifo, Tonga · 2805 days ago · 10 km deep · 76 km away
- 4.934 km NE of Hihifo, Tonga · 2805 days ago · 35 km deep · 99 km away
- 5.379 km SSE of Hihifo, Tonga · 2797 days ago · 35 km deep · 6 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us1000i3ya (also filed as iscgem614408057). Read Tue, Sep 29, 2026, 5:19 PM UTC.