M5.5 earthquake 86 km ENE of Hihifo, Tonga
A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck 86 km ENE of Hihifo, Tonga on Sun, Nov 4, 1979, 3:44 AM GMT-11 (14:44 UTC), 27 km (17 mi) below the surface.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.5 (mb), moderate
- Local time
- UTC
- 1979-11-04 14:44:12 UTC
- Depth
- 27.0 km (16.8 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 15.596° S, 173.084° W
- Region
- Tonga
- 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
- 76
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.5 and up: 5 in the 60 days after this one and 1 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.084 km SE of Hihifo, Tonga · 17110 days ago · 33 km deep · 95 km away
- 4.589 km ESE of Hihifo, Tonga · 17110 days ago · 33 km deep · 84 km away
- 5.366 km N of Hihifo, Tonga · 17106 days ago · 83 km deep · 88 km away
- 5.270 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga · 17091 days ago · 33 km deep · 45 km away
- 5.489 km NE of Hihifo, Tonga · 17072 days ago · 33 km deep · 17 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp00013us (also filed as iscgem655114). Read Tue, Sep 22, 2026, 8:25 PM UTC.