M5.4 earthquake 88 km SE of ‘Ohonua, Tonga
A magnitude 5.4 earthquake struck 88 km SE of ‘Ohonua, Tonga on Wed, May 10, 1978, 6:55 AM GMT+13 (17:55 UTC), 33 km (21 mi) below the surface.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.4 (mb), moderate
- Local time
- UTC
- 1978-05-09 17:55:48 UTC
- Depth
- 33.0 km (20.5 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 21.995° S, 174.475° 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
- 67
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.4 and up: 6 in the 60 days after this one and 2 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 5.0141 km SSE of ‘Ohonua, Tonga · 17669 days ago · 33 km deep · 53 km away
- 5.070 km ESE of ‘Ohonua, Tonga · 17655 days ago · 33 km deep · 59 km away
- 4.964 km ESE of ‘Ohonua, Tonga · 17655 days ago · 33 km deep · 46 km away
- 4.6134 km SSE of ‘Ohonua, Tonga · 17652 days ago · 33 km deep · 63 km away
- 4.1122 km S of ‘Ohonua, Tonga · 17645 days ago · 33 km deep · 58 km away
- 4.7117 km S of ‘Ohonua, Tonga · 17623 days ago · 60 km deep · 60 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0000ufd (also filed as gcmtb050978a, gcmt19780509175548, iscgem682037). Read Sun, Sep 27, 2026, 8:56 PM UTC.