M4.5 earthquake 180 km WSW of Hihifo, Tonga
A magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck 180 km WSW of Hihifo, Tonga on Sun, Dec 19, 2021, 11:11 PM GMT-12 (11:11 UTC), 299 km (186 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M4.9 109 km W 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
- 4.5 (mb), light
- Local time
- UTC
- 2021-12-20 11:11:05 UTC
- Depth
- 299.3 km (185.9 mi), intermediate-depth
- Epicenter
- 16.309° S, 175.443° 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 10.6 km horizontally, 7.8 km in depth
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.05
- Depth from
- From location
- Station coverage gap
- 42°
- Stations used
- 76
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.5 and up: 5 in the 60 days after this one and 2 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.5252 km WSW of Hihifo, Tonga · 1737 days ago · 10 km deep · 99 km away
- 4.5232 km W of Hihifo, Tonga · 1735 days ago · 358 km deep · 55 km away
- 4.9109 km W of Hihifo, Tonga · 1734 days ago · 284 km deep · 74 km away
- 4.5234 km W of Hihifo, Tonga · 1701 days ago · 373 km deep · 63 km away
- 4.1158 km WNW of Hihifo, Tonga · 1689 days ago · 287 km deep · 91 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us6000gdt2. Read Wed, Sep 30, 2026, 10:31 AM UTC.