M5.3 earthquake 121 km SSE of ‘Ohonua, Tonga

A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck 121 km SSE of ‘Ohonua, Tonga on Sat, Feb 11, 2023, 6:06 AM GMT+13 (17:06 UTC), 10 km (6 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M5.4 Tonga region. This one was a foreshock.

Map

Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.

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
5.3	Mww, W-phase moment	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Preferred · Reviewed · ±0.089 · 12 stations
5.8	Mi	NOAA Pacific Tsunami Warning Center	First automatic solution · Reviewed · 8 stations

No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.

How the rock slipped, from the moment tensor, and the USGS estimate of landslides and liquefaction.

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.

Within 100 km, magnitude 2.3 and up: 9 in the 60 days after this one and 4 in the 30 days before it.

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us6000jn4u (also filed as pt23041000). Read Sat, Oct 3, 2026, 1:50 AM UTC.