M 5.0 Earthquake 103 km W of Hihifo, Tonga
A magnitude 5.0 earthquake was recorded by USGS near 103 km W of Hihifo. On the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program scale, M5.0 is classified "Moderate". Among the 1,740 earthquake reports Areazine has published, this M5.0 event ranks stronger than 55% of them (rank #612 by magnitude).
The earthquake report, at a glance
- Magnitude
- M 5.0
- USGS class
- Moderate
- Location
- 103 km W of Hihifo
- Archive rank
- #612 of 1,740
- Source
- USGS
- Published
- September 20, 2026
Out of 1,740 earthquake reports Areazine has logged, this one outranks 55% of them — 611 recorded a higher magnitude.
Record status: a point-in-time USGS detection. Aftershocks, revised magnitude, and felt-report data continue to update on USGS's own event page after publication.
What Happened
A M 5.0 mb earthquake occurred 103 km W of Hihifo, Tonga, at a depth of 10 km. The event took place at 2026-10-20 12:27:03 UTC (Unix timestamp 1789880823869). The earthquake was reviewed by USGS.
Location Details
The epicenter was located at latitude -15.8926, longitude -174.7641. This places the event 103 km west of Hihifo, Tonga. The 10 km depth classifies it as a shallow earthquake (less than 20 km).
Impact Assessment
No felt reports were recorded. There was no tsunami advisory (tsunami field value: 0). No alert level was assigned.
What You Should Know
This was a moderate earthquake. Shallow events can sometimes be felt more widely, though no damage or injuries are reported in the data.
Source
Data from USGS: https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us7000tip2
Original source: USGS Official Notice ↗
Related Earthquakes
All Earthquakes →Elsewhere in the country: similar length or severity timing 8
Two cross-category peer sets, both computed from Areazine's own archive: notices with a similar body length, and notices near the same severity and agency date. These are drawn from other categories, not the same-feed Related list above.
Similar body length
Nearest notices by article body length (815 characters here).
Similar severity timing
Same severity (medium) notices issued closest in time to September 20, 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about this USGS earthquake report.