M5.2 earthquake 120 km SE of ‘Ohonua, Tonga
A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck 120 km SE of ‘Ohonua, Tonga on Sat, Apr 1, 1978, 2:31 PM GMT+13 (01:31 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
- 5.2 (mb), moderate
- Local time
- UTC
- 1978-04-01 01:31:36 UTC
- Depth
- 33.0 km (20.5 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 22.006° S, 174.029° 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
- 27
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.2 and up: 6 in the 60 days after this one and 5 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 5.859 km E of ‘Ohonua, Tonga · 17690 days ago · 33 km deep · 90 km away
- 4.975 km E of ‘Ohonua, Tonga · 17689 days ago · 33 km deep · 81 km away
- 5.488 km SE of ‘Ohonua, Tonga · 17675 days ago · 33 km deep · 46 km away
- 5.0141 km SSE of ‘Ohonua, Tonga · 17671 days ago · 33 km deep · 49 km away
- 5.070 km ESE of ‘Ohonua, Tonga · 17657 days ago · 33 km deep · 63 km away
- 4.964 km ESE of ‘Ohonua, Tonga · 17656 days ago · 33 km deep · 59 km away
Before
- 5.7108 km ESE of ‘Ohonua, Tonga · 17716 days ago · 33 km deep · 27 km away
- 5.067 km ESE of ‘Ohonua, Tonga · 17716 days ago · 33 km deep · 59 km away
- 5.2113 km SE of ‘Ohonua, Tonga · 17719 days ago · 33 km deep · 28 km away
- 5.197 km SSE of ‘Ohonua, Tonga · 17719 days ago · 45 km deep · 45 km away
- 6.362 km S of ‘Ohonua, Tonga · 17741 days ago · 33 km deep · 86 km away
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0000tvd (also filed as iscgem683069). Read Tue, Sep 29, 2026, 12:59 PM UTC.