Tonga earthquakes

M5.0 earthquake 70 km ESE of Pangai, Tonga

A magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck 70 km ESE of Pangai, Tonga on Sun, Apr 6, 1980, 4:51 PM GMT+13 (03:51 UTC), 33 km (21 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M5.5 50 km SE of Pangai, Tonga. This one was a foreshock.

Nuku‘alofa forecastMore in Tonga

Map

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

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The earthquake

Magnitude
5.0 (mb, body-wave), moderate
Magnitude from
USGS National Earthquake Information Center
Local time
UTC
1980-04-06 03:51:52 UTC
Depth
33.0 km (20.5 mi), shallow
Epicenter
20.129° S, 173.772° 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
16

Nearest places

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

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 2.0 and up: 5 in the 60 days after this one and 7 in the 30 days before it.

After

  1. 5.1129 km SE of Pangai, Tonga · 16964 days ago · 33 km deep · 62 km away
  2. 5.550 km SE of Pangai, Tonga · 16958 days ago · 33 km deep · 20 km away
  3. 5.161 km NE of Pangai, Tonga · 16958 days ago · 33 km deep · 79 km away
  4. 5.571 km ENE of Pangai, Tonga · 16956 days ago · 22 km deep · 72 km away
  5. 5.292 km ESE of Pangai, Tonga · 16928 days ago · 36 km deep · 33 km away

Before

  1. 5.087 km SE of Pangai, Tonga · 16985 days ago · 33 km deep · 40 km away
  2. 5.231 km SSE of Pangai, Tonga · 16985 days ago · 33 km deep · 45 km away
  3. 6.1125 km SE of Pangai, Tonga · 16985 days ago · 37 km deep · 65 km away
  4. 5.7119 km SSE of Pangai, Tonga · 16986 days ago · 34 km deep · 67 km away
  5. 5.2100 km SE of Pangai, Tonga · 16986 days ago · 33 km deep · 47 km away
  6. 6.2100 km SE of Pangai, Tonga · 16986 days ago · 33 km deep · 48 km away
  7. 4.966 km E of Pangai, Tonga · 16999 days ago · 33 km deep · 27 km away

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Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp00016fh. Read Fri, Oct 2, 2026, 4:45 PM UTC.