M5.3 earthquake 198 km WSW of Houma, Tonga
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck 198 km WSW of Houma, Tonga on Tue, Jan 23, 2024, 3:20 AM GMT+13 (14:20 UTC), 212 km (132 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M5.8 264 km SW 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
- 5.3 (Mww, W-phase moment), moderate
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2024-01-22 14:20:31 UTC
- Depth
- 211.8 km (131.6 mi), intermediate-depth
- Epicenter
- 22.003° S, 177.002° W
- Region
- Tonga
- 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.3 | Mww, W-phase moment | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed · ±0.068 · 21 stations |
| 5.2 | Mww, W-phase moment | USGS, automatic first solution | First automatic solution · Confirmed |
Did you feel it?
No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.
Fault motion and ground failure
How the rock slipped, from the moment tensor, and the USGS estimate of landslides and liquefaction.
- Faulting
- Oblique normal
- Moment magnitude
- 5.3 Mww
- Nodal plane 1
- Strike 315°, dip 30°, rake -43°
- Nodal plane 2
- Strike 85°, dip 70°, rake -112°
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Location uncertainty
- About 10.7 km horizontally, 4.3 km in depth
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.07
- Depth from
- From location
- Station coverage gap
- 31°
- Stations used
- 133
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.3 and up: 4 in the 60 days after this one and 2 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 5.8264 km SW of Houma, Tonga · 976 days ago · 176 km deep · 94 km away · felt by 1
- 4.2255 km WSW of Houma, Tonga · 970 days ago · 294 km deep · 59 km away
- 4.5120 km SW of Houma, Tonga · 959 days ago · 135 km deep · 95 km away
- 4.5177 km SW of Houma, Tonga · 929 days ago · 150 km deep · 46 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us6000m5ev (also filed as usauto6000m5ev). Read Sat, Oct 3, 2026, 7:55 AM UTC.