M5.3 earthquake 69 km SSW of Vaini, Tonga
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck 69 km SSW of Vaini, Tonga on Tue, Aug 25, 2020, 11:49 AM GMT+13 (22:49 UTC), 20 km (12 mi) below the surface.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.3 (Mww, W-phase moment), moderate
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2020-08-24 22:49:57 UTC
- Depth
- 20.0 km (12.4 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 21.766° S, 175.440° W
- Region
- Tonga
- Felt reports
- 2
- 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 · ±0.098 · 10 stations |
| 5.31 | Mw, moment | ISC-GEM global catalog | Final · ±0.1 |
Did you feel it?
2 people reported to the USGS what they felt; the strongest reported shaking was IV, light shaking.
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Location uncertainty
- About 8.5 km horizontally, 3.7 km in depth
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.10
- Depth from
- From location
- Station coverage gap
- 68°
- Stations used
- 116
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.3 and up: 1 in the 60 days after this one and 4 in the 30 days before it.
After
Before
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us7000bccm (also filed as iscgem619104505). Read Sat, Oct 3, 2026, 9:25 AM UTC.