M5.3 earthquake 168 km WSW of Houma, Tonga
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck 168 km WSW of Houma, Tonga on Sun, Mar 8, 2026, 8:18 PM GMT+13 (07:18 UTC), 199 km (124 mi) below the surface.
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
- 2026-03-08 07:18:34 UTC
- Depth
- 199.4 km (123.9 mi), intermediate-depth
- Epicenter
- 21.939° S, 176.704° 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 · ±0.098 · 10 stations |
| 5.2 | 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 12.6 km horizontally, 6.7 km in depth
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.10
- Depth from
- From location
- Station coverage gap
- 70°
- Stations used
- 97
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.3 and up: 2 in the 60 days after this one and 1 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.1171 km SW of Houma, Tonga · 208 days ago · 206 km deep · 18 km away
- 4.5160 km WSW of Houma, Tonga · 172 days ago · 208 km deep · 14 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us7000s2y6 (also filed as usauto7000s2y6). Read Mon, Oct 5, 2026, 6:49 AM UTC.