M5.8 earthquake 264 km SW of Houma, Tonga
A magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck 264 km SW of Houma, Tonga on Wed, Jan 31, 2024, 11:49 PM GMT+13 (10:49 UTC), 176 km (109 mi) below the surface.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.8 (Mww, W-phase moment), moderate
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2024-01-31 10:49:35 UTC
- Depth
- 176.0 km (109.4 mi), intermediate-depth
- Epicenter
- 22.836° S, 177.145° W
- Region
- Tonga
- Felt reports
- 1
- Strongest shaking
- III, weak shaking
- PAGER alert
- Green
- 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.8 | Mww, W-phase moment | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed · ±0.068 · 21 stations |
| 5.7 | Mi | NOAA Pacific Tsunami Warning Center | First automatic solution · Reviewed · 8 stations |
| 5.7 | Mwb, body-wave moment | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Moment tensor · Reviewed |
| 5.8 | Mww, W-phase moment | USGS, automatic first solution | First automatic solution · Confirmed |
Shaking
The USGS ShakeMap: shaking estimated from seismic stations and the quake’s size, on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale.
- Strongest estimated
- III, weak shaking
- Peak ground acceleration
- 0.3% of gravity
- Peak ground velocity
- 0.2 cm/s
- Map
- Automatic
Did you feel it?
1 person reported to the USGS what they felt; the strongest reported shaking was II, weak shaking.
Estimated impact
The USGS PAGER system estimates deaths and economic losses from the shaking and the population and buildings exposed to it.
- Alert level
- Green: little or no damage or loss of life expected
| Range | Chance |
|---|---|
| Under 1 | 65% |
| 1 to 10 | 30% |
| 10 to 100 | 4% |
| 100 to 1,000 | Under 1% |
| 1,000 to 10,000 | Under 1% |
| 10,000 to 100,000 | Under 1% |
| 100,000 to 10,000,000 | Under 1% |
| Range, million USD | Chance |
|---|---|
| Under 1 | 65% |
| 1 to 10 | 30% |
| 10 to 100 | 4% |
| 100 to 1,000 | Under 1% |
| 1,000 to 10,000 | Under 1% |
| 10,000 to 100,000 | Under 1% |
| 100,000 to 10,000,000 | Under 1% |
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
- 5.8 Mww
- Nodal plane 1
- Strike 157°, dip 13°, rake -142°
- Nodal plane 2
- Strike 29°, dip 82°, rake -80°
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Location uncertainty
- About 10.0 km horizontally, 1.9 km in depth
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.07
- Depth from
- From modeling of broad-band P waveforms
- Station coverage gap
- 32°
- Stations used
- 165
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.8 and up: 4 in the 60 days after this one and 4 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.2255 km WSW of Houma, Tonga · 970 days ago · 294 km deep · 94 km away
- 4.3251 km SSW of Houma, Tonga · 968 days ago · 10 km deep · 72 km away
- 4.5177 km SW of Houma, Tonga · 929 days ago · 150 km deep · 89 km away
- 4.8278 km SW of Houma, Tonga · 916 days ago · 148 km deep · 23 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us7000lv7d (also filed as usauto7000lv7d, pt24031000). Read Fri, Oct 2, 2026, 8:50 PM UTC.