Tonga earthquakes

M4.9 earthquake 116 km NW of Hihifo, Tonga

A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck 116 km NW of Hihifo, Tonga on Mon, Jul 20, 2020, 10:07 PM GMT+13 (09:07 UTC), 10 km (6 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M5.6 79 km NNW of Hihifo, Tonga. 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: 4.9 (mb, body-wave), light
Magnitude from: USGS National Earthquake Information Center
Local time: Mon, Jul 20, 2020, 10:07 PM GMT+13
UTC: 2020-07-20 09:07:27 UTC
Depth: 10.0 km (6.2 mi), shallow
Epicenter: 15.156° S, 174.498° 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 · ±0.085 · 44 stations
5.04	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 7.1 km horizontally, 1.5 km in depth
Magnitude uncertainty: ±0.09
Depth from: Operator assigned
Station coverage gap: 67°
Stations used: 59

Nearest places

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

Apia, SamoaPopulation 40,407. Forecast329 kmWSW

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 1.9 and up: 8 in the 60 days after this one and 1 in the 30 days before it.

After

Before

4.556 km N of Hihifo, TongaThu, Jul 9, 9:39 PM GMT+13 · 2277 days ago · 121 km deep · 79 km away

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Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us7000arhi (also filed as iscgem618687321). Read Sat, Oct 3, 2026, 10:35 AM UTC.