M4.4 earthquake 290 km WSW of Houma, Tonga
A magnitude 4.4 earthquake struck 290 km WSW of Houma, Tonga on Sun, Jan 4, 2026, 2:53 AM GMT+13 (13:53 UTC), 396 km (246 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M6.2 Fiji region. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 4.4 (mb, body-wave), light
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2026-01-03 13:53:21 UTC
- Depth
- 396.0 km (246.1 mi), deep
- Epicenter
- 21.843° S, 178.010° W
- Region
- Tonga
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
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 13.9 km horizontally, 8.9 km in depth
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.09
- Depth from
- From location
- Station coverage gap
- 108°
- Stations used
- 38
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.5 and up: 9 in the 60 days after this one and 3 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.5238 km WSW of Houma, Tonga · 272 days ago · 249 km deep · 86 km away
- 4.4south of the Fiji Islands · 246 days ago · 387 km deep · 53 km away
- 4.8280 km W of Houma, Tonga · 243 days ago · 388 km deep · 20 km away
- 4.6south of the Fiji Islands · 237 days ago · 603 km deep · 100 km away
- 6.2Fiji region · 236 days ago · 513 km deep · 99 km away
- 4.6283 km W of Houma, Tonga · 236 days ago · 414 km deep · 51 km away
- 4.3Fiji region · 232 days ago · 494 km deep · 100 km away
- 4.5south of the Fiji Islands · 228 days ago · 377 km deep · 47 km away
- 4.2Fiji region · 220 days ago · 509 km deep · 97 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us7000rm9r. Read Mon, Oct 5, 2026, 1:10 AM UTC.