Tonga earthquakes

M5.3 earthquake 93 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga

A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck 93 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga on Wed, Apr 15, 2020, 8:05 PM GMT+13 (07:05 UTC), 22 km (14 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M5.7 87 km ENE of Hihifo, Tonga. This one was a foreshock.

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Map

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

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The earthquake

Magnitude: 5.3 (Mww, W-phase moment), moderate
Magnitude from: USGS National Earthquake Information Center
Local time: Wed, Apr 15, 2020, 8:05 PM GMT+13
UTC: 2020-04-15 07:05:03 UTC
Depth: 21.8 km (13.6 mi), shallow
Epicenter: 15.208° S, 173.381° 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
5.3	Mww, W-phase moment	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Preferred · Reviewed · ±0.078 · 16 stations
5.65	Mw, moment	ISC-GEM global catalog	Final · ±0.1
5.2	Mwb, body-wave moment	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Moment tensor · Reviewed

Did you feel it?

No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.

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: 5.2 Mwb
Nodal plane 1: Strike 299°, dip 84°, rake 102°
Nodal plane 2: Strike 53°, dip 14°, rake 25°

How well it is located

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Location uncertainty: About 7.4 km horizontally, 3.1 km in depth
Magnitude uncertainty: ±0.08
Depth from: From location
Station coverage gap: 56°
Stations used: 86

Nearest places

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

Apia, SamoaPopulation 40,407. Forecast231 kmSW

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 2.3 and up: 13 in the 60 days after this one and 4 in the 30 days before it.

After

Before

Earthquakes today Tonga earthquakes Live radar here

Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us70008wk9 (also filed as iscgem618060902). Read Sat, Oct 3, 2026, 2:54 PM UTC.