M5.4 earthquake Fiji region
A magnitude 5.4 earthquake struck in the Fiji region on Tue, Oct 23, 1979, 1:38 PM GMT+12 (01:38 UTC), 586 km (364 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M5.7 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
- 5.4 (mb, body-wave), moderate
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 1979-10-23 01:38:14 UTC
- Depth
- 586.0 km (364.1 mi), deep
- Epicenter
- 20.921° S, 179.270° 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 |
| 5.5 | Mw, moment | ISC-GEM global catalog | Final · ±0.29 |
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
- 82
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 3 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 5.3Fiji region · 17140 days ago · 607 km deep · 88 km away
- 5.7Fiji region · 17133 days ago · 589 km deep · 47 km away
- 5.1Fiji region · 17114 days ago · 589 km deep · 87 km away
- 5.4Fiji region · 17111 days ago · 655 km deep · 22 km away
- 5.0Fiji region · 17101 days ago · 592 km deep · 47 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayFiji earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp00013ng (also filed as iscgem657726). Read Sat, Oct 3, 2026, 9:18 AM UTC.