M5.9 earthquake Tonga
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck in Tonga on Tue, Jul 24, 1979, 1:53 PM GMT+13 (00:53 UTC), 33 km (21 mi) below the surface.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.9 (ms), moderate
- Local time
- UTC
- 1979-07-24 00:53:57 UTC
- Depth
- 33.0 km (20.5 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 20.487° S, 174.212° 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.
- Depth from
- OPERATOR_ASSIGNED
- Stations used
- 269
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 0 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 5.267 km S of Pangai, Tonga · 17228 days ago · 33 km deep · 26 km away
- 4.056 km SW of Pangai, Tonga · 17228 days ago · 173 km deep · 62 km away
- 5.074 km SE of Pangai, Tonga · 17219 days ago · 33 km deep · 49 km away
- 5.349 km SE of Pangai, Tonga · 17203 days ago · 76 km deep · 43 km away
- 4.922 km NE of Pangai, Tonga · 17180 days ago · 33 km deep · 93 km away
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0001215 (also filed as gcmtb072479b, gcmt19790724005357, iscgem662258). Read Wed, Sep 23, 2026, 4:30 AM UTC.