The 1977 Tonga earthquake took place on 22 June at 12:08:33 UTC some 200 km southwest of
Tongatapu
Tongatapu is the main island of Tonga and the site of its capital, Nukualofa. It is located in Tonga's southern island group, to which it gives its name, and is the country's most populous island, with 74,611 residents (2016), 70.5% of the nation ...
, which shocks infecting all islands of the kingdom of
Tonga
Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...
. The earthquake measured 8.0 on the
moment magnitude scale
The moment magnitude scale (MMS; denoted explicitly with or Mw, and generally implied with use of a single M for magnitude) is a measure of an earthquake's magnitude ("size" or strength) based on its seismic moment. It was defined in a 1979 pape ...
and had a maximum intensity of VIII (''Severe'') on the
Mercalli intensity scale
The Modified Mercalli intensity scale (MM, MMI, or MCS), developed from Giuseppe Mercalli's Mercalli intensity scale of 1902, is a seismic intensity scale used for measuring the intensity of shaking produced by an earthquake. It measures the eff ...
.
The earthquake caused considerable damage to the infrastructures and some fatalities in most Tongan islands,
with the most damage in
Tongatapu
Tongatapu is the main island of Tonga and the site of its capital, Nukualofa. It is located in Tonga's southern island group, to which it gives its name, and is the country's most populous island, with 74,611 residents (2016), 70.5% of the nation ...
and
ʻEua
Eua is an island in the kingdom of Tonga. It is close to Tongatapu, but forms a separate administrative division. It has an area of , and a population in 2021 of 4,903 people.
Geography
Eua is a hilly island, the highest peaks are the ''Teemo ...
and the least damage in
Ha'apai and
Vava'u.
[
]
See also
*List of earthquakes in 1977
This is a list of earthquakes in 1977. Only earthquakes of magnitude 6 or above are included, unless they result in damage and/or casualties, or are notable for some other reason. Events in remote areas will not be listed but included in statist ...
*List of earthquakes in Tonga
This is a list of earthquakes in Tonga:
Earthquakes
References
Sources
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Earthquakes In Tonga
Tonga
Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and a ...
*Louisville Ridge
The Louisville Ridge, also known as the Louisville Seamount Chain, is an underwater chain of over 70 seamounts located in the Southwest portion of the Pacific Ocean. As one of the longest seamount chains on Earth it stretches some Vanderkluysen, ...
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
Earthquakes in Tonga
1977 earthquakes
1977 in Tonga
1977 disasters in Oceania
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