M5.2 earthquake Fiji region
A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck in the Fiji region on Thu, Sep 13, 1979, 1:50 PM GMT-12 (01:50 UTC), 596 km (370 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M5.3 south of the Fiji Islands. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.2 (mb, body-wave), moderate
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 1979-09-14 01:50:18 UTC
- Depth
- 596.0 km (370.3 mi), deep
- Epicenter
- 21.973° S, 179.515° 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
- 43
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.2 and up: 4 in the 60 days after this one and 3 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 3.1Fiji region · 17175 days ago · 447 km deep · 73 km away
- 5.2Fiji region · 17165 days ago · 563 km deep · 14 km away
- 5.2south of the Fiji Islands · 17156 days ago · 616 km deep · 10 km away
- 5.3south of the Fiji Islands · 17136 days ago · 590 km deep · 21 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayFiji earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp00012y5. Read Sat, Oct 3, 2026, 11:39 AM UTC.