M4.5 earthquake 108 km NW of Houma, Tonga
A magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck 108 km NW of Houma, Tonga on Wed, May 17, 2023, 9:22 AM GMT+13 (20:22 UTC), 194 km (120 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M4.7 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, body-wave), light
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2023-05-16 20:22:27 UTC
- Depth
- 193.9 km (120.5 mi), intermediate-depth
- Epicenter
- 20.479° S, 176.041° 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 9.8 km horizontally, 6.7 km in depth
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.12
- Depth from
- From location
- Station coverage gap
- 66°
- Stations used
- 30
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.5 and up: 2 in the 60 days after this one and 2 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.7Tonga · 1233 days ago · 149 km deep · 79 km away
- 4.5151 km NW of Houma, Tonga · 1228 days ago · 215 km deep · 44 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us6000kd7q. Read Fri, Oct 2, 2026, 8:03 PM UTC.