M4.2 earthquake Tonga
A magnitude 4.2 earthquake struck in Tonga on Sun, Jan 5, 2020, 2:21 AM GMT-12 (14:21 UTC), 260 km (162 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M4.6 78 km WNW 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
- 4.2 (mb), light
- Local time
- UTC
- 2020-01-05 14:21:23 UTC
- Depth
- 260.5 km (161.9 mi), intermediate-depth
- Epicenter
- 16.532° S, 174.695° 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 12.4 km horizontally, 4.2 km in depth
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.12
- Depth from
- From location
- Station coverage gap
- 147°
- Stations used
- 26
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.5 and up: 8 in the 60 days after this one and 2 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.1115 km W of Hihifo, Tonga · 2451 days ago · 295 km deep · 49 km away
- 4.536 km WNW of Hihifo, Tonga · 2446 days ago · 108 km deep · 97 km away
- 4.4101 km WNW of Hihifo, Tonga · 2442 days ago · 166 km deep · 95 km away
- 4.4125 km W of Hihifo, Tonga · 2440 days ago · 296 km deep · 66 km away
- 4.678 km WNW of Hihifo, Tonga · 2438 days ago · 129 km deep · 98 km away
- 4.6Tonga · 2432 days ago · 306 km deep · 92 km away
- 4.5146 km SSW of Hihifo, Tonga · 2405 days ago · 91 km deep · 63 km away
- 4.3110 km WSW of Hihifo, Tonga · 2401 days ago · 269 km deep · 30 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us600079b5. Read Wed, Sep 30, 2026, 12:03 PM UTC.