M4.4 earthquake 282 km SW of ‘Ohonua, Tonga
A magnitude 4.4 earthquake struck 282 km SW of ‘Ohonua, Tonga on Wed, Mar 17, 2021, 7:29 AM GMT+13 (18:29 UTC), 91 km (57 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M4.9 232 km SSW of Vaini, Tonga. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 4.4 (mb, body-wave), light
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2021-03-16 18:29:42 UTC
- Depth
- 91.2 km (56.7 mi), intermediate-depth
- Epicenter
- 23.395° S, 176.565° 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 18.9 km horizontally, 6.1 km in depth
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.15
- Depth from
- From location
- Station coverage gap
- 215°, poorly surrounded by stations
- Stations used
- 15
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.5 and up: 3 in the 60 days after this one and 5 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.9232 km SSW of Vaini, Tonga · 1995 days ago · 98 km deep · 50 km away
- 4.4south of the Fiji Islands · 1980 days ago · 10 km deep · 80 km away
- 4.5246 km SSW of Vaini, Tonga · 1980 days ago · 105 km deep · 38 km away
Before
- 4.3266 km SW of Vaini, Tonga · 2037 days ago · 10 km deep · 65 km away
- 4.9south of the Fiji Islands · 2041 days ago · 10 km deep · 73 km away
- 4.4185 km SW of Vaini, Tonga · 2052 days ago · 153 km deep · 100 km away
- 4.5south of the Fiji Islands · 2057 days ago · 10 km deep · 44 km away
- 4.6273 km SW of Vaini, Tonga · 2057 days ago · 10 km deep · 31 km away
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us6000dwci. Read Sun, Oct 4, 2026, 4:59 PM UTC.