M8.0 The 1917 Samoa-Tonga Earthquake
A magnitude 8.0 earthquake struck on Mon, Jun 25, 1917, 6:19 PM GMT-11:30 (05:49 UTC), 15 km (9 mi) below the surface.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 8.0 (mw), great
- Local time
- UTC
- 1917-06-26 05:49:44 UTC
- Depth
- 15.0 km (9.3 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 14.996° S, 173.270° W
- Region
- Tonga
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
Deaths and damage
From NOAA NCEI’s Significant Earthquake Database (record 3087), matched to this event by time and place.
- Deaths
- 2 with its tsunami and other effects
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million); Moderate (about $1 to $5 million) with its tsunami and other effects
- Houses destroyed
- Many (101 to 1,000) with its tsunami and other effects
Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.
Did you feel it?
No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Location uncertainty
- About 0.0 km horizontally, 17.6 km in depth
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.30
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 5.0 and up: 0 in the 60 days after this one and 0 in the 30 days before it.
None recorded.
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Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event iscgem913548. Read Sat, Sep 26, 2026, 9:44 PM UTC.