Moderate magnitude 5.0 earthquake at 138 km depth
29 Nov 13:15 UTC: First to report: EMSC after 17 minutes.
29 Nov 13:15: Now using data updates from USGS
Update Tue, 29 Nov 2022, 13:21
Moderate yet deep magnitude 5.0 earthquake 47 km northwest of Neiafu, Tonga
5.0 quake 30 Nov 1:58 am (GMT +13)
A magnitude 5.0 earthquake near Neiafu, Vava'u, Tonga, was reported only 22 minutes ago by the United States Geological Survey, considered one of the key international agencies that monitor seismic activity worldwide. The earthquake occurred at an intermediate depth of 137.9 km beneath the epicenter early morning on Wednesday, November 30th, 2022, at 1:58 am 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 5.1. Other agencies reporting the same quake include the citizen-seismograph network of RaspberryShake at magnitude 5.0, and the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) at magnitude 5.0.
Generally quakes of this magnitude are recorded by more than one agency and the results can vary, with subsequent reports that come in after the first one often showing more accuracy.
Towns or cities near the epicenter where the quake might have been felt as very weak shaking include Neiafu (pop. 4,300) located 47 km from the epicenter.
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.
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Aftershocks
[More info]
Based on its magnitude, the fault that was active during the quake ruptured along a surface of approx. 10 km
2 (=4 sqare miles) as a first-order estimate. The length of the rupture zone thus was probably around 5 km (3 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).
Recorded aftershocks, latest first (0 quake)
So far, no aftershocks have been registered.
(South Pacific Ocean, Tonga)
26.5°C (80 F), humidity: 80%, wind: 9 m/s (17 kts) from E
