M5.9 earthquake Tonga region
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck in the Tonga region on Tue, Dec 6, 1977, 3:13 AM GMT+13 (14:13 UTC), 33 km (21 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M6.1 south of Tonga. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.9 (ms), moderate
- Local time
- UTC
- 1977-12-05 14:13:52 UTC
- Depth
- 33.0 km (20.5 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 23.915° S, 175.950° W
- Region
- Tonga
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
Did you feel it?
No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Depth from
- OPERATOR_ASSIGNED
- Stations used
- 65
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.5 and up: 10 in the 60 days after this one and 2 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 5.2south of Tonga · 17821 days ago · 33 km deep · 41 km away
- 4.2south of Tonga · 17820 days ago · 33 km deep · 90 km away
- 4.3266 km SSW of ‘Ohonua, Tonga · 17820 days ago · 153 km deep · 73 km away
- 6.1south of Tonga · 17820 days ago · 33 km deep · 44 km away
- 5.1263 km SSW of ‘Ohonua, Tonga · 17819 days ago · 33 km deep · 44 km away
- 5.1south of Tonga · 17818 days ago · 33 km deep · 32 km away
- 4.9231 km S of ‘Ohonua, Tonga · 17813 days ago · 33 km deep · 87 km away
- 5.1279 km SSW of ‘Ohonua, Tonga · 17811 days ago · 115 km deep · 25 km away
- 5.0south of Tonga · 17802 days ago · 33 km deep · 75 km away
- 4.8275 km S of ‘Ohonua, Tonga · 17800 days ago · 50 km deep · 54 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0000ry4 (also filed as gcmtb120577a, gcmt19771205141352, iscgem688707). Read Tue, Sep 22, 2026, 8:37 AM UTC.