M5.4 earthquake Fiji region
A magnitude 5.4 earthquake struck in the Fiji region on Fri, Jul 20, 1979, 2:10 PM GMT+13 (01:10 UTC), 558 km (347 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, body-wave), moderate
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 1979-07-20 01:10:28 UTC
- Depth
- 558.0 km (346.7 mi), deep
- Epicenter
- 20.474° S, 178.369° 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.4 | mb, body-wave | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed |
| 5.3 | 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
- 102
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.4 and up: 5 in the 60 days after this one and 4 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.7Fiji region · 17225 days ago · 554 km deep · 75 km away
- 4.9Fiji region · 17223 days ago · 583 km deep · 59 km away
- 5.3Fiji region · 17220 days ago · 535 km deep · 15 km away
- 5.0274 km WNW of Haveluloto, Tonga · 17216 days ago · 456 km deep · 81 km away
- 4.2Fiji region · 17210 days ago · 576 km deep · 48 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayFiji earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp00011yf (also filed as gcmtb072079a, gcmt19790720011028, iscgem662031). Read Sat, Oct 3, 2026, 2:33 PM UTC.