Tonga earthquakes

M6.1 earthquake 125 km SE of Pangai, Tonga

A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck 125 km SE of Pangai, Tonga on Wed, Apr 2, 1980, 12:11 AM GMT+13 (11:11 UTC), 37 km (23 mi) below the surface.

Nuku‘alofa forecastMore in Tonga

Map

Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.

Open the live map with earthquakes

The earthquake

Magnitude
6.1 (Ms, surface-wave), strong
Magnitude from
USGS National Earthquake Information Center
Local time
UTC
1980-04-01 11:11:54 UTC
Depth
37.0 km (23.0 mi), shallow
Epicenter
20.686° S, 173.588° W
Region
Tonga
Tsunami flag
No
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

Magnitude estimates

Different scales measure different things and differ by a few tenths. The USGS marks one as preferred, and it is the one this page uses.

Mag.ScaleComputed byNotes
6.1Ms, surface-waveUSGS National Earthquake Information CenterPreferred · Reviewed
5.95Mw, momentISC-GEM global catalogFinal · ±0.1
6.0Mwc, centroid momentGlobal CMT projectPreliminary

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
65

Nearest places

Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 3.1 and up: 6 in the 60 days after this one and 4 in the 30 days before it.

After

  1. 5.231 km SSE of Pangai, Tonga · 16986 days ago · 33 km deep · 94 km away
  2. 5.087 km SE of Pangai, Tonga · 16986 days ago · 33 km deep · 39 km away
  3. 5.070 km ESE of Pangai, Tonga · 16981 days ago · 33 km deep · 65 km away
  4. 5.1129 km SE of Pangai, Tonga · 16965 days ago · 33 km deep · 23 km away
  5. 5.550 km SE of Pangai, Tonga · 16959 days ago · 33 km deep · 78 km away
  6. 5.292 km ESE of Pangai, Tonga · 16929 days ago · 36 km deep · 77 km away

Before

  1. 5.7119 km SSE of Pangai, Tonga · 16987 days ago · 34 km deep · 17 km away
  2. 5.2100 km SE of Pangai, Tonga · 16987 days ago · 33 km deep · 26 km away
  3. 6.2100 km SE of Pangai, Tonga · 16987 days ago · 33 km deep · 26 km away
  4. 4.966 km E of Pangai, Tonga · 17000 days ago · 33 km deep · 89 km away

Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here

Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp00016cy (also filed as gcmtb040180a, gcmt19800401111154, iscgem646969). Read Sat, Oct 3, 2026, 1:54 PM UTC.