M4.7 earthquake 188 km W of Houma, Tonga
A magnitude 4.7 earthquake struck 188 km W of Houma, Tonga on Wed, Dec 20, 2023, 4:30 AM GMT+13 (15:30 UTC), 250 km (155 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M5.8 116 km WSW of Houma, Tonga. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 4.7 (mb, body-wave), light
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2023-12-19 15:30:57 UTC
- Depth
- 249.7 km (155.1 mi), intermediate-depth
- Epicenter
- 21.464° S, 177.088° 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 11.4 km horizontally, 6.1 km in depth
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.08
- Depth from
- From location
- Station coverage gap
- 97°
- Stations used
- 49
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.7 and up: 8 in the 60 days after this one and 4 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 5.7125 km W of Houma, Tonga · 1002 days ago · 197 km deep · 71 km away
- 4.5213 km WSW of Houma, Tonga · 990 days ago · 197 km deep · 63 km away
- 5.8116 km WSW of Houma, Tonga · 988 days ago · 155 km deep · 82 km away · felt by 3
- 4.2268 km W of Houma, Tonga · 986 days ago · 362 km deep · 93 km away
- 5.3198 km WSW of Houma, Tonga · 984 days ago · 212 km deep · 61 km away
- 4.3237 km WNW of Houma, Tonga · 982 days ago · 395 km deep · 99 km away
- 4.2255 km WSW of Houma, Tonga · 970 days ago · 294 km deep · 85 km away
- 4.3261 km W of Houma, Tonga · 962 days ago · 400 km deep · 87 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us7000lk3z. Read Fri, Oct 2, 2026, 4:11 PM UTC.