M4.7 earthquake 292 km SW of Vaini, Tonga
A magnitude 4.7 earthquake struck 292 km SW of Vaini, Tonga on Sat, Feb 10, 1979, 8:09 AM GMT+13 (19:09 UTC), 33 km (21 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M5.4 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
- 4.7 (mb), light
- Local time
- UTC
- 1979-02-09 19:09:36 UTC
- Depth
- 33.0 km (20.5 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 23.294° S, 176.901° 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
- 21
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.7 and up: 2 in the 60 days after this one and 0 in the 30 days before it.
After
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0000ys1. Read Tue, Sep 22, 2026, 7:50 PM UTC.