M5.0 earthquake 67 km ESE of ‘Ohonua, Tonga
A magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck 67 km ESE of ‘Ohonua, Tonga on Thu, Mar 30, 1978, 3:08 AM GMT+13 (14:08 UTC), 33 km (21 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M5.8 59 km E of ‘Ohonua, Tonga. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.0 (mb), moderate
- Local time
- UTC
- 1978-03-29 14:08:21 UTC
- Depth
- 33.0 km (20.5 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 21.569° S, 174.352° 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
- 33
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.0 and up: 9 in the 60 days after this one and 4 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 5.7108 km ESE of ‘Ohonua, Tonga · 17713 days ago · 33 km deep · 41 km away
- 5.2120 km SE of ‘Ohonua, Tonga · 17711 days ago · 33 km deep · 59 km away
- 5.280 km ENE of ‘Ohonua, Tonga · 17698 days ago · 33 km deep · 62 km away
- 5.859 km E of ‘Ohonua, Tonga · 17688 days ago · 33 km deep · 34 km away
- 4.975 km E of ‘Ohonua, Tonga · 17687 days ago · 33 km deep · 33 km away
- 5.488 km SE of ‘Ohonua, Tonga · 17673 days ago · 33 km deep · 49 km away
- 5.0141 km SSE of ‘Ohonua, Tonga · 17668 days ago · 33 km deep · 95 km away
- 5.070 km ESE of ‘Ohonua, Tonga · 17655 days ago · 33 km deep · 11 km away
- 4.964 km ESE of ‘Ohonua, Tonga · 17654 days ago · 33 km deep · 4 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0000tu4. Read Sun, Sep 27, 2026, 9:25 AM UTC.