M5.6 earthquake - 259 km S of ‘Ohonua, Tonga

What happened

A magnitude 5.6 earthquake struck 259 km S of ‘Ohonua, Tonga on 1 Oct 2016, 00:33 UTC at a depth of 10 km.

Earthquakes of this size are classed as Moderate. Can damage poorly built structures close to the epicentre. This was a shallow earthquake, which tends to be felt more strongly at the surface.

The nearest town in our records is Nuku‘alofa, about 283 km away in Tongatapu, Tonga.