Moderate mag. 5.4 earthquake - South Pacific Ocean, 89 km southeast of Neiafu, Vava'u, Tonga, on Sunday, Nov 7, 2021 at 4:39 pm (GMT +13) -

A magnitude 5.4 earthquake near Neiafu, Vava'u, Tonga, was reported only 23 minutes ago by the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), considered one of the key international agencies that monitor seismic activity worldwide. The earthquake occurred at an intermediate depth of 100 km beneath the epicenter in the afternoon on Sunday, November 7th, 2021, at 4:39 pm local time. The exact magnitude, epicenter, and depth of the quake might be revised within the next few hours or minutes as seismologists review data and refine their calculations, or as other agencies issue their report.
Our monitoring service identified a second report from Geoscience Australia (GeoAu) which listed the quake at magnitude 5.2. Other agencies reporting the same quake include the United States Geological Survey at magnitude 5.4, France's Réseau National de Surveillance Sismique (RéNaSS) at magnitude 5.0, and the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) at magnitude 5.5.
Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake should not have caused any significant damage, but was probably felt by many people as light vibration in the area of the epicenter.
Weak shaking might have been felt in Neiafu (pop. 4,300) located 91 km from the epicenter, and Pangai (pop. 1,700) 95 km away.
VolcanoDiscovery will automatically update magnitude and depth if these change and follow up if other significant news about the quake become available. If you're in the area, please send us your experience through our reporting mechanism, either online or via our mobile app. This will help us provide more first-hand updates to anyone around the globe who wants to know more about this quake.

Date & time: Nov 7, 2021 03:39:42 UTC -
Local time at epicenter: Sunday, Nov 7, 2021 at 4:39 pm (GMT +13)
Magnitude: 5.4
Depth: 80.0 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 19.32°S / 173.52°W (South Pacific Ocean, Tonga)
Antipode: 19.32°N / 6.48°E
Nearest volcano: Unnamed 50 km NW of Vava’u (Tonga) (178 km / 111 mi)
Nearby towns and cities:
89 km (55 mi) SE of Neiafu (pop: 4,320) --> See nearby quakes!
103 km (64 mi) ENE of Pangai (pop: 1,740) --> See nearby quakes!
258 km (161 mi) NE of Kolonga (pop: 1,100) --> See nearby quakes!
268 km (166 mi) NE of Nukalofa (Nuku'alofa) (pop: 22,400) --> See nearby quakes!
268 km (166 mi) NE of Nuku‘alofa (pop: 22,400) --> See nearby quakes!
269 km (167 mi) NNE of ‘Ohonua (Ohonua) (pop: 1,240) --> See nearby quakes!
375 km (233 mi) S of Hihifo (pop: 815) --> See nearby quakes!
380 km (236 mi) W of Alofi (Niue) (pop: 624) --> See nearby quakes!
386 km (240 mi) W of Hakupu (Niue) (pop: 221) --> See nearby quakes!
390 km (242 mi) W of Mutalau (Niue) (pop: 133) --> See nearby quakes!
270 km (168 mi) NE of Amsterdam Island (pop: 75,000) --> See nearby quakes!
Primary data source: EMSC (European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre)
Estimated released energy: 7.9 x 10¹² joules (2.21 gigawatt hours, equivalent to 1898 tons of TNT or 0.1 atomic bombs!) | about seismic energy

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Based on its magnitude, the fault that was active during the quake ruptured along a surface of approx. 25 km² (=10 sqare miles) as a first-order estimate. The length of the rupture zone thus was probably around 9 km (5 mi).
Aftershocks typically occur during the days and weeks following the quake at or near the same fault, at distances of up to approx. two times the length of the rupture zone.
The often broadly linear arrangement of aftershock epicenters encompasses the rupture zone of the main shock (check on the map below to verify).

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