M5.2 earthquake 77 km WNW of Neiafu, Tonga
A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck 77 km WNW of Neiafu, Tonga on Fri, Apr 21, 2023, 7:18 PM GMT+13 (06:18 UTC), 117 km (73 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M6.0 Tonga. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.2 (Mww, W-phase moment), moderate
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2023-04-21 06:18:16 UTC
- Depth
- 117.4 km (73.0 mi), intermediate-depth
- Epicenter
- 18.498° S, 174.698° W
- Region
- Tonga
- Felt reports
- 1
- 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.2 | Mww, W-phase moment | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed · ±0.089 · 12 stations |
| 5.2 | Mww, W-phase moment | USGS, automatic first solution | First automatic solution · Preliminary |
Did you feel it?
1 person reported to the USGS what they felt; the strongest reported shaking was II, weak shaking.
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Location uncertainty
- About 9.7 km horizontally, 5.9 km in depth
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.09
- Depth from
- From location
- Station coverage gap
- 46°
- Stations used
- 196
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.2 and up: 9 in the 60 days after this one and 1 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.4158 km W of Neiafu, Tonga · 1260 days ago · 222 km deep · 86 km away
- 4.4132 km W of Neiafu, Tonga · 1260 days ago · 224 km deep · 55 km away
- 4.2137 km WNW of Neiafu, Tonga · 1252 days ago · 219 km deep · 60 km away
- 4.166 km NW of Neiafu, Tonga · 1244 days ago · 134 km deep · 46 km away
- 6.0Tonga · 1225 days ago · 222 km deep · 51 km away · felt by 1
- 4.690 km NW of Neiafu, Tonga · 1214 days ago · 123 km deep · 60 km away
- 4.310 km E of Neiafu, Tonga · 1208 days ago · 35 km deep · 87 km away
- 4.374 km NNW of Neiafu, Tonga · 1202 days ago · 8 km deep · 61 km away
- 4.165 km W of Neiafu, Tonga · 1201 days ago · 144 km deep · 12 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us6000k5yc (also filed as usauto6000k5yc). Read Fri, Oct 2, 2026, 7:12 PM UTC.