Significant earthquake of magnitude 5.2 just reported 45 km southeast of Hihifo, Tonga

A magnitude 5.2 earthquake near Hihifo, Niuas, Tonga, was reported only 19 minutes ago by the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), considered one of the key international agencies that monitor seismic activity worldwide. The earthquake occurred at a moderately shallow depth of 41. km beneath the epicenter in the morning on Tuesday, February 10th, 2026, at 7:52 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.
A second report was later issued by the citizen-seismograph network of RaspberryShake, which listed it as a magnitude 5.2 earthquake as well.
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 Vaipoa (pop. 170) located 45 km from the epicenter, and Hihifo (pop. 300) 45 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.

Earthquake data:
Date & time: Feb 9, 2026 06:52 pm (Universal Time) local time (9 Feb 2026 18:52 GMT)
Magnitude: 5.0
Depth: 32.26 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 16.11°S / 173.53°W (Tonga)
Primary data source: USGS
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