Moderate mag. 5.9 earthquake - South Pacific Ocean, 126 km southeast of Neiafu, Vava‘u, Tonga, on Friday, 28 February 2020 at 07:41 (GMT) -
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Moderate magnitude 5.9 earthquake at 10 km depth
28 Feb 07:54 UTC: First to report: GFZ after 13 minutes.
Feb 28 09:48: Magnitude recalculated from 5.8 to 5.9.
Feb 28 09:48: Magnitude recalculated from 5.8 to 5.9.
Magnitude: 5.9
Depth: 10.0 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 19.41°S / 173.09°W

Nearest volcano: Late (177 km / 110 mi)
Nearby towns and cities:
126 km (79 mi) SE of Neiafu (pop: 4,320) --> See nearby quakes!
140 km (87 mi) ENE of Pangai (pop: 1,740) --> See nearby quakes!
282 km (175 mi) NE of Kolonga (pop: 1,100) --> See nearby quakes!
289 km (179 mi) NE of ‘Ohonua (Ohonua) (pop: 1,240) --> See nearby quakes!
292 km (182 mi) NE of Nuku'alofa (pop: 22,400) --> See nearby quakes!
292 km (182 mi) NE of Nuku‘alofa (pop: 22,400) --> See nearby quakes!
335 km (208 mi) W of Alofi (Niue) (pop: 624) --> See nearby quakes!
342 km (213 mi) W of Hakupu (Niue) (pop: 221) --> See nearby quakes!
346 km (215 mi) W of Mutalau (Niue) (pop: 133) --> See nearby quakes!
392 km (243 mi) S of Hihifo (pop: 815) --> See nearby quakes!
Primary data source: GFZ (German Research Centre for Geosciences)
Estimated released energy: 4.5 x 1013 joules (12.4 gigawatt hours, equivalent to 10676 tons of TNT or 0.7 atomic bombs!) More info
Data for the same earthquake reported by different agencies
Info: The more agencies report about the same quake and post similar data, the more confidence you can have in the data. It takes normally up to a few hours until earthquake parameters are calculated with near-optimum precision.
Magnitude | Depth | Location | Source |
M 5.9 | 10 km | Tonga Islands | GFZ |
M 5.8 | 10 km | Tonga Region | EMSC |
M 5.8 | 10 km | Tonga region | USGS |
M 5.8 | 10 km | Tonga Islands | BMKG |
M 5.8 | 51 km | Tonga Islands | GeoAu |
User reports for this quake (2)
User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale.
138.6 km WSW of epicenter [Map] / Violent shaking (MMI IX)
925.3 km W of epicenter [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV)
Aftershocks of the 5.9 quake South Pacific Ocean, 126 km southeast of Neiafu, Vava‘u, Tonga, 28 February 2020 07:41 GMT
More info
Recorded aftershocks, latest first (7 quakes):- 27 Apr 2020 13:39 UTC| M 4.7 |10 km (6.2 mi) depth|38 km (24 mi) distance| USGS | Details
- 04 Apr 2020 09:24 UTC| M 5.3 |10 km (6.2 mi) depth|22 km (14 mi) distance| GFZ | Details
- 03 Apr 2020 13:09 UTC| M 4.5 |10 km (6.2 mi) depth|44 km (27 mi) distance| USGS | Details
- 12 Mar 2020 12:50 UTC| M 5.3 |10 km (6.2 mi) depth|30 km (19 mi) distance| EMSC | Details
- 11 Mar 2020 19:54 UTC| M 5.4 |38 km (23.6 mi) depth|12 km (7 mi) distance| GFZ | Details
- 02 Mar 2020 21:13 UTC| M 4.6 |10 km (6.2 mi) depth|9 km (5 mi) distance| USGS | Details
- 29 Feb 2020 01:57 UTC| M 5.2 |10 km (6.2 mi) depth|35 km (22 mi) distance| GFZ | Details
Earlier earthquakes in the same area
Moderate mag. 5.9 earthquake - South Pacific Ocean, 126 km southeast of Neiafu, Vava‘u, Tonga, on Friday, 28 February 2020 at 07:41 (GMT)Click here to search our database for earlier earthquakes in the same area since 1900!