Moderate mag. 5.0 earthquake - Tonga (Samoa) on Friday, 14 October 1983 at 23:03 (GMT)

Moderate mag. 5.0 earthquake - Tonga (Samoa) on Friday, 14 October 1983 at 23:03 (GMT)

Moderate magnitude 5.0 earthquake at 33 km depth

Date & time: 14 Oct 1983 23:03:29 UTC
Magnitude: 5
Depth: 33.0 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 15.853°S / 173.309°W (Samoa)
Nearest volcano: Tafahi (44 km / 27 mi)
Nearby towns and cities:
53 km (33 mi) ENE of Hihifo (Tonga) (pop: 815) --> See nearby quakes!
257 km (160 mi) SSW of Vailoa (pop: 769) --> See nearby quakes!
263 km (164 mi) SSW of Mulifanua (pop: 4,510) --> See nearby quakes!
269 km (167 mi) SSW of Asau (pop: 6,640) --> See nearby quakes!
271 km (168 mi) SSW of Fasito‘outa (pop: 2,100) --> See nearby quakes!
279 km (173 mi) SW of Apia (pop: 40,400) --> See nearby quakes!
284 km (177 mi) SSW of Safotu (pop: 1,210) --> See nearby quakes!
287 km (178 mi) SW of Lufilufi (pop: 1,070) --> See nearby quakes!
325 km (202 mi) WSW of Tāfuna (Tualauta, American Samoa) (pop: 11,000) --> See nearby quakes!
330 km (205 mi) WSW of Pago Pago (Ma'Oputasi, American Samoa) (pop: 11,500) --> See nearby quakes!
Primary data source: USGS (United States Geological Survey)
Estimated released energy: 2 x 1012 joules (554 megawatt hours, equivalent to 477 tons of TNT) 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 5.033 kmTonga (Samoa)USGS
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 5.0 quake Tonga (Samoa) 14 October 1983 23:03 GMT

More info
Recorded aftershocks, latest first (1 quakes):
  • 23 Oct 1983 13:07 UTC
    | M 3.6 |
    33 km (20.5 mi) depth
    |
    12 km (7 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details

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Earlier earthquakes in the same area

Moderate mag. 5.0 earthquake - Tonga (Samoa) on Friday, 14 October 1983 at 23:03 (GMT)
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