Strong mag. 6.2 earthquake - Tonga on Monday, 31 March 1980 at 13:04 (GMT)

Strong mag. 6.2 earthquake - Tonga on Monday, 31 March 1980 at 13:04 (GMT)

Strong magnitude 6.2 earthquake at 33 km depth

Date & time: 31 Mar 1980 13:04:31 UTC
Magnitude: 6.2
Depth: 33.0 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 20.561°S / 173.803°W (Tonga)
Nearest volcano: Feinga Seamount (149 km / 93 mi)
Nearby towns and cities:
159 km (99 mi) ENE of Nuku'alofa (pop: 22,400) --> See nearby quakes!
Primary data source: USGS (United States Geological Survey)
Estimated released energy: 1.3 x 1014 joules (35 gigawatt hours, equivalent to 30089 tons of TNT or 1.9 atomic bombs!) More info
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Data for the same earthquake reported by different agencies

Info: The more agencies report about the same quake and post similar data, the more confidence you can have in the data. It takes normally up to a few hours until earthquake parameters are calculated with near-optimum precision.
MagnitudeDepthLocationSource
M 6.233 kmTongaUSGS
Note: for quakes of 2012 and earlier, our database often contains only records from USGS.

User reports for this quake

User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale.
There are no user reports for this quake yet. If you felt it be the first to report it!
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Aftershocks of the 6.2 quake Tonga 31 March 1980 13:04 GMT

More info
Recorded aftershocks, latest first (9 quakes):
  • 28 May 1980 22:24 UTC
    | M 5.2 |
    36 km (22.4 mi) depth
    |
    71 km (44 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 28 Apr 1980 16:43 UTC
    | M 5.5 |
    33 km (20.5 mi) depth
    |
    56 km (35 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 22 Apr 1980 08:10 UTC
    | M 5.1 |
    33 km (20.5 mi) depth
    |
    41 km (26 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 06 Apr 1980 03:51 UTC
    | M 5.0 |
    33 km (20.5 mi) depth
    |
    48 km (30 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 01 Apr 1980 15:45 UTC
    | M 5.0 |
    33 km (20.5 mi) depth
    |
    13 km (8 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 01 Apr 1980 11:15 UTC
    | M 5.2 |
    33 km (20.5 mi) depth
    |
    69 km (43 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 01 Apr 1980 11:11 UTC
    | M 6.1 |
    37 km (23 mi) depth
    |
    26 km (16 mi) distance
    | USGS | Strong mag. 6.1 earthquake - Tonga on Tuesday, 1 April 1980 at 11:11 (GMT)
  • 31 Mar 1980 18:42 UTC
    | M 5.7 |
    34 km (21.1 mi) depth
    |
    20 km (12 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 31 Mar 1980 13:26 UTC
    | M 5.2 |
    33 km (20.5 mi) depth
    |
    2 km (1 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details

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Earlier earthquakes in the same area

Strong mag. 6.2 earthquake - Tonga on Monday, 31 March 1980 at 13:04 (GMT)
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