M4.9 earthquake 285 km SW of Houma, Tonga
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck 285 km SW of Houma, Tonga on Wed, May 29, 2024, 2:53 AM GMT+13 (13:53 UTC), 168 km (105 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M5.1 226 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
- 4.9 (mb, body-wave), light
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2024-05-28 13:53:48 UTC
- Depth
- 168.3 km (104.6 mi), intermediate-depth
- Epicenter
- 23.026° S, 177.221° 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.9 | mb, body-wave | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed · ±0.031 · 334 stations |
| 5.0 | Mww, W-phase moment | USGS, automatic first solution | First automatic solution · Preliminary |
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 11.3 km horizontally, 4.7 km in depth
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.03
- Depth from
- From location
- Station coverage gap
- 54°
- Stations used
- 145
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.9 and up: 6 in the 60 days after this one and 3 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.3south of the Fiji Islands · 846 days ago · 215 km deep · 47 km away
- 4.5260 km SW of Houma, Tonga · 843 days ago · 168 km deep · 25 km away
- 5.1226 km SW of Houma, Tonga · 842 days ago · 125 km deep · 64 km away
- 4.3232 km SSW of Houma, Tonga · 817 days ago · 154 km deep · 74 km away
- 4.5south of the Fiji Islands · 811 days ago · 316 km deep · 99 km away
- 4.6264 km SW of Houma, Tonga · 800 days ago · 156 km deep · 22 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us6000n1h6 (also filed as usauto6000n1h6). Read Sat, Oct 3, 2026, 8:48 PM UTC.