Fiji earthquakes

M5.3 earthquake Fiji region

A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck in the Fiji region on Sun, Aug 12, 1979, 4:18 AM GMT+13 (15:18 UTC), 535 km (332 mi) below the surface.

Nuku‘alofa forecastMore in Fiji

Map

Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.

Open the live map with earthquakes

The earthquake

Magnitude
5.3 (mb), moderate
Local time
UTC
1979-08-11 15:18:26 UTC
Depth
535.0 km (332.4 mi), deep
Epicenter
20.607° S, 178.358° W
Region
Fiji
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.

Stations used
184

Nearest places

Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 2.3 and up: 5 in the 60 days after this one and 4 in the 30 days before it.

After

  1. 5.0274 km WNW of Haveluloto, Tonga · 17210 days ago · 456 km deep · 87 km away
  2. 4.2Fiji region · 17203 days ago · 576 km deep · 43 km away
  3. 4.3Fiji region · 17172 days ago · 662 km deep · 58 km away
  4. 5.0Fiji region · 17162 days ago · 576 km deep · 36 km away
  5. 4.9Fiji region · 17160 days ago · 595 km deep · 33 km away

Before

  1. 4.9Fiji region · 17217 days ago · 583 km deep · 46 km away
  2. 4.7Fiji region · 17219 days ago · 554 km deep · 89 km away
  3. 5.4Fiji region · 17236 days ago · 558 km deep · 15 km away
  4. 5.3Fiji region · 17238 days ago · 564 km deep · 92 km away

Earthquakes todayFiji earthquakesLive radar here

Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp00012bx (also filed as gcmtb081179b, gcmt19790811151826, iscgem660182). Read Sun, Sep 27, 2026, 9:49 AM UTC.