M 5.9 in Tonga on 08 Mar 2026 09:28 UTC

Event summary

This earthquake can have a low humanitarian impact based on the magnitude and the affected population and their vulnerability.

GDACS ID EQ 1527996
Earthquake Magnitude: 5.9M
Depth: 134 Km
Lat/Lon: -15.9945 , -173.9395
Event Date: 08 Mar 2026 09:28 UTC
08 Mar 2026 22:28 Local
Exposed Population: 2 thousand in MMI>=III
Inserted at: 08 Mar 2026 14:23 UTC
INFORM Coping capacity:
1.1 (Tonga)

GDACS Score

For more info on GDACS alert score click here.
  Earthquake
(Shakemap)		 GDACS score
NEIC 0 0
us7000s2yl Scaled population (raster) 0  
  C1 shakemap 0  
  C2 shakemap 0  
  Country Vulnerability 0  
  INFORM_normalised 0  
Maximum expected impact using different data sources.
Virtual OSOCC
Meteo assessment
Satellite products
Analytical products
Detailed event map. European Union, 2026. Map produced by EC-JRC.
The boundaries and the names shown on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the European Union.

Updates on volcanic activity (Smithsonian)

Latest media headlines

6.0 magnitude earthquake felt on Sunday night An earthquake was felt o.. 3/8/2026 11:32:00 PM.

An earthquake was felt on 8 March at 10:28 pm with a magnitude of 6.0 on the Richter scale. The centre of the earthquake was in Tonga at a depth of 62.6 km. The distance was 322 km southwest of Apia. Based on the data available from the Sam
...(more)
Terremoto Tonga, scossa di magnitudo stimata 5.6 a Hihifo, tutti i det.. 3/8/2026 11:56:00 AM.

Scossa di terremoto. Una scossa di terremoto di magnitudo stimata attorno a 5.6, si è verificata alle ore 01:00 (ore 10:28 in Italia) con epicentro nei pressi di Hihifo, Tonga. La profondità stimata è stata di circa 146 Km . Potete monitora
...(more)
Terremoto Tonga, scossa di magnitudo 6.1 a Hihifo, tutti i dettagli 3/8/2026 11:56:00 AM.

Scossa di terremoto a Hihifo, Tonga. Una scossa di terremoto di magnitudo 6.1, si è verificata alle ore 22:36 (ore 10:36 in Italia) con epicentro nei pressi di Hihifo, Tonga. La profondità stimata è stata di circa 116.6 Km . Potete monitora
...(more)
Urgent: 6.1-magnitude quake hits 17 km W of Hihifo, Tonga -- USGS 3/8/2026 10:18:00 AM.

HONG KONG, March 8 (Xinhua) -- An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.1 jolted 17 km W of Hihifo, Tonga at 09:28:24 GMT on Sunday, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The epicenter, with a depth of 116.6 km, was initially determined to be at 15.9
...(more)

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Estimated casualties (PAGER)

USGS estimates the number of casualties for each earthquake for the Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response (PAGER) product.
The graph shows the current fatalities estimate.

Exposed population

Data, images, links, services and documents

For this events, GDACS has links to information from the following sources: EC-JRC (48), NEIC (5), OCHA (1), WMO (1), USGS (5), (2), INFORM (2),