M4.8 earthquake 124 km NW of Hihifo, Tonga
A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck 124 km NW of Hihifo, Tonga on Tue, Jul 21, 2020, 8:34 PM GMT+13 (07:34 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.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 4.8 (mb, body-wave), light
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2020-07-21 07:34:22 UTC
- Depth
- 10.0 km (6.2 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 15.184° S, 174.636° 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.8 | mb, body-wave | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed · ±0.089 · 41 stations |
| 5.24 | 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 5.7 km horizontally, 1.8 km in depth
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.09
- Depth from
- Operator assigned
- Station coverage gap
- 66°
- Stations used
- 53
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.8 and up: 5 in the 60 days after this one and 4 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.2107 km WNW of Hihifo, Tonga · 2256 days ago · 277 km deep · 44 km away
- 4.5142 km NNW of Hihifo, Tonga · 2248 days ago · 268 km deep · 36 km away
- 4.5Tonga · 2242 days ago · 104 km deep · 81 km away
- 4.5108 km NW of Hihifo, Tonga · 2229 days ago · 10 km deep · 30 km away
- 5.679 km NNW of Hihifo, Tonga · 2229 days ago · 10 km deep · 60 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us7000as6w (also filed as iscgem618708437). Read Fri, Oct 2, 2026, 1:25 AM UTC.