M5.0 earthquake 77 km NNW of Hihifo, Tonga
A magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck 77 km NNW of Hihifo, Tonga on Fri, Aug 29, 1980, 10:42 PM GMT-11 (09:42 UTC), 33 km (21 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M6.0 75 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.0 (Ms, surface-wave), moderate
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 1980-08-30 09:42:04 UTC
- Depth
- 33.0 km (20.5 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 15.286° S, 174.007° 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
- 26
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.0 and up: 9 in the 60 days after this one and 2 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.6112 km WNW of Hihifo, Tonga · 16822 days ago · 303 km deep · 96 km away
- 4.884 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga · 16821 days ago · 33 km deep · 47 km away
- 5.334 km N of Hihifo, Tonga · 16820 days ago · 68 km deep · 49 km away
- 5.678 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga · 16819 days ago · 33 km deep · 44 km away
- 5.481 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga · 16819 days ago · 33 km deep · 68 km away
- 4.755 km N of Hihifo, Tonga · 16802 days ago · 107 km deep · 23 km away
- 5.584 km NNW of Hihifo, Tonga · 16797 days ago · 33 km deep · 7 km away
- 6.075 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga · 16796 days ago · 33 km deep · 64 km away
- 4.679 km N of Hihifo, Tonga · 16794 days ago · 33 km deep · 24 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp00019m3. Read Sun, Oct 4, 2026, 5:24 PM UTC.