Tonga earthquakes

M4.7 earthquake 142 km SW of Hihifo, Tonga

A magnitude 4.7 earthquake struck 142 km SW of Hihifo, Tonga on Wed, Dec 5, 1979, 9:22 PM GMT-12 (09:22 UTC), 224 km (139 mi) below the surface.

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The earthquake

Magnitude
4.7 (mb), light
Local time
UTC
1979-12-06 09:22:05 UTC
Depth
224.0 km (139.2 mi), intermediate-depth
Epicenter
16.871° S, 174.731° 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
16

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 1.7 and up: 1 in the 60 days after this one and 4 in the 30 days before it.

After

  1. 4.3119 km SW of Hihifo, Tonga · 17058 days ago · 158 km deep · 34 km away

Before

  1. 4.2109 km S of Hihifo, Tonga · 17106 days ago · 123 km deep · 84 km away
  2. 5.0Tonga · 17109 days ago · 192 km deep · 14 km away
  3. 4.7131 km S of Hihifo, Tonga · 17113 days ago · 33 km deep · 89 km away
  4. 5.2115 km SSW of Hihifo, Tonga · 17114 days ago · 91 km deep · 56 km away

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Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp00014bw. Read Tue, Sep 22, 2026, 4:05 PM UTC.