M5.7 earthquake - 250 km SSE of ‘Ohonua, Tonga

What happened

A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck 250 km SSE of ‘Ohonua, Tonga on 17 Apr 2016, 07:31 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 279 km away in Tongatapu, Tonga.