Significant magnitude 5.2 quake hits 97 km southeast of Nuku'alofa, Tonga early morning

An earthquake of magnitude 5.2 occurred only 19 minutes ago 97 km southeast of Nuku'alofa, Tonga, the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) reported.
The quake hit at a shallow depth of 10. km beneath the epicenter near Nuku'alofa, Kolofo'ou, Tongatapu, Tonga, early morning on Tuesday, January 27th, 2026, at 2:02 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.
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 Ha'atu'a (pop. 490) located 65 km from the epicenter, Fua'amotu (pop. 1,700) 82 km away, Vaini (pop. 3,300) 90 km away, Ha'ateiho (pop. 2,600) 94 km away, Popua (pop. 2,300) 95 km away, Haveluloto (pop. 3,500) 96 km away, Tofoa-Koloua (pop. 3,500) 96 km away, and Nuku'alofa (pop. 22,400) 97 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: Jan 27, 2026 02:02 am (GMT +13) local time (26 Jan 2026 13:02 GMT)
Magnitude: 5.2
Depth: 10.00 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 21.96°S / 174.89°W (Tonga)
Primary data source: GFZ
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