Moderate mag. 4.8 earthquake - South Pacific Ocean, Tonga, on Thursday, Oct 21, 2021 at 4:37 pm (GMT +13) -
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Moderate magnitude 4.8 earthquake at 10 km depth
21 Oct 04:00 UTC: First to report: USGS after 23 minutes.
22 Oct 01:48: Epicenter location corrected by 4.5 km (2.8 mi) towards SSW.
22 Oct 01:48: Epicenter location corrected by 4.5 km (2.8 mi) towards SSW.
Local time at epicenter: Thursday, Oct 21, 2021 at 4:37 pm (GMT +13)
Magnitude: 4.8
Depth: 10.0 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 16.8559°S / 172.7038°W

Antipode: 16.856°N / 7.296°E
Nearest volcano: Tafahi (155 km / 96 mi)
Nearby towns and cities:
154 km (96 mi) SE of Hihifo (pop: 815) --> See nearby quakes!
241 km (150 mi) NE of Neiafu (pop: 4,320) --> See nearby quakes!
344 km (214 mi) S of Mulifanua (Samoa) (pop: 4,510) --> See nearby quakes!
351 km (218 mi) SSW of Apia (Samoa) (pop: 40,400) --> See nearby quakes!
352 km (219 mi) SW of Tāfuna (Tualauta, American Samoa) (pop: 11,000) --> See nearby quakes!
358 km (222 mi) SW of Pago Pago (Ma'Oputasi, American Samoa) (pop: 11,500) --> See nearby quakes!
371 km (231 mi) S of Asau (Samoa) (pop: 6,640) --> See nearby quakes!
372 km (231 mi) NNE of Pangai (pop: 1,740) --> See nearby quakes!
383 km (238 mi) NW of Alofi (Niue) (pop: 624) --> See nearby quakes!
545 km (339 mi) SE of Mata-Utu (Hahake, Wallis & Futuna) (pop: 1,200) --> See nearby quakes!
Weather at epicenter at time of quake:
Broken Clouds
25.9°C (79 F), humidity: 69%, wind: 9 m/s (17 kts) from ESE
Primary data source: USGS (United States Geological Survey)
Broken Clouds

Estimated released energy: 1 x 1012 joules (278 megawatt hours, equivalent to 239 tons of TNT) | about seismic energy
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.
Mag. | Depth | Location | Source |
4.8 | 10 km | 153 Km SE of Hihifo, Tonga | USGS |
4.8 | 10 km | TONGA | EMSC |
User reports for this quake
User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale.
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