M5.1 earthquake 91 km E of ‘Ohonua, Tonga
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck 91 km E of ‘Ohonua, Tonga on Thu, Dec 25, 1980, 8:53 PM GMT+13 (07:53 UTC), 33 km (21 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M5.5 66 km ENE of ‘Ohonua, Tonga. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.1 (mb), moderate
- Local time
- UTC
- 1980-12-25 07:53:36 UTC
- Depth
- 33.0 km (20.5 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 21.421° S, 174.074° 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
- 54
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.1 and up: 4 in the 60 days after this one and 3 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 5.566 km ENE of ‘Ohonua, Tonga · 16712 days ago · 33 km deep · 43 km away
- 5.1130 km ENE of ‘Ohonua, Tonga · 16711 days ago · 33 km deep · 65 km away
- 5.276 km ENE of ‘Ohonua, Tonga · 16694 days ago · 41 km deep · 33 km away
- 4.847 km E of ‘Ohonua, Tonga · 16667 days ago · 33 km deep · 45 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0001bf1 (also filed as gcmtb122580c, gcmt19801225075336, iscgem634506). Read Tue, Sep 29, 2026, 12:21 AM UTC.