Fiji earthquakes

M5.1 earthquake Fiji region

A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck in the Fiji region on Thu, Aug 23, 1979, 2:23 AM GMT-12 (14:23 UTC), 619 km (385 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M5.2 Fiji region. This one was a foreshock.

Map

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

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The earthquake

Magnitude: 5.1 (mb, body-wave), moderate
Magnitude from: USGS National Earthquake Information Center
Local time: Thu, Aug 23, 1979, 2:23 AM GMT-12
UTC: 1979-08-23 14:23:04 UTC
Depth: 619.0 km (384.6 mi), deep
Epicenter: 21.361° S, 179.403° 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
5.1	mb, body-wave	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Preferred · Reviewed
5.19	Mw, moment	ISC-GEM global catalog	Final · ±0.1
5.2	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: 79

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 2.1 and up: 6 in the 60 days after this one and 6 in the 30 days before it.

After

Before

Earthquakes today Fiji earthquakes Live radar here

Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp00012k1 (also filed as gcmtb082379b, gcmt19790823142304, iscgem660777). Read Sun, Oct 4, 2026, 9:26 AM UTC.