M5.3 earthquake Fiji region
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck in the Fiji region on Thu, Jun 28, 1979, 6:19 PM GMT+13 (05:19 UTC), 555 km (345 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M5.4 Fiji region. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.3 (mb, body-wave), moderate
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 1979-06-28 05:19:06 UTC
- Depth
- 555.0 km (344.9 mi), deep
- Epicenter
- 20.242° S, 178.202° W
- Region
- Fiji
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
Magnitude estimates
Different scales measure different things and differ by a few tenths. The USGS marks one as preferred, and it is the one this page uses.
| Mag. | Scale | Computed by | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.3 | mb, body-wave | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed |
| 5.34 | Mw, moment | ISC-GEM global catalog | Final · ±0.1 |
| 5.3 | Mwc, centroid moment | Global CMT project | Preliminary |
Did you feel it?
No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Stations used
- 122
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.3 and up: 10 in the 60 days after this one and 2 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 5.2275 km WNW of Haveluloto, Tonga · 17263 days ago · 510 km deep · 51 km away
- 4.9291 km WNW of Haveluloto, Tonga · 17262 days ago · 513 km deep · 39 km away
- 4.4255 km WNW of Haveluloto, Tonga · 17247 days ago · 484 km deep · 81 km away
- 5.4Fiji region · 17241 days ago · 558 km deep · 31 km away
- 4.7Fiji region · 17223 days ago · 554 km deep · 47 km away
- 4.9Fiji region · 17221 days ago · 583 km deep · 89 km away
- 5.2296 km WNW of Haveluloto, Tonga · 17221 days ago · 368 km deep · 86 km away
- 5.3Fiji region · 17218 days ago · 535 km deep · 44 km away
- 5.0274 km WNW of Haveluloto, Tonga · 17214 days ago · 456 km deep · 58 km away
- 4.2Fiji region · 17208 days ago · 576 km deep · 78 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayFiji earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp00011kd (also filed as gcmtb062879b, gcmt19790628051906, iscgem664210). Read Thu, Oct 1, 2026, 9:50 PM UTC.