A strong magnitude 7.0 magnitude earthquake at 1:18 am was felt in Tonga, triggering a tsunami warning and evacuation alert for people in coastal areas. In the capital, civil defence sirens woke families. Some people on coastal areas evacuated inland and to higher ground where they stayed during early hours of the morning.
Tonga’s National Emergency Operation Centre was activated and co-ordinated with town and district officers and civil defence officials throughout the night before the the tsunami warning was cancelled at 4:40am
Paula Finau the duty officer at NEOC told Matangi Tonga this morning that no damage was reported for all areas. “It’s all good,” he said.
The centre warned the public to remain aware of ongoing sea disturbances.
“Be aware that although the main tsunami threat has passed, small unusual waves, currents and abnormal tides may still affect some beaches and harbours for hours.”
Tonga Meteorological Service preliminary report, based on the seismic data, reported the Earthquake has occurred with these parameters:
Origin time: 1:18am on (31.03.2025)
Coordinates: Lat: 20.4 South Lon: 173.7 West
Depth: 55 km
Magnitude: 7.1
Location: 90km South East of Pangai Ha’apai
170 km East Northeast of Nuku’alofa
195km South Southeast of Vava’u
490km South Southeast of Niuatoputapu
565km South East of Niuafo’ou
Based on coastal and deep sea guages small taunami waves of 0.04m (0.1ft) were forecast to reach Nuku’alofa within 33 minutes of the quake.
Regional warning
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Honolulu, advised (at 1304 UTC Mar 30 2025) that small tsunami waves of 0.04m had been observed from coastal and/or deep-ocean sea level gauges at Alofi, Niue, coordinates 19.1s 169.9w, at UTC 1251. Waves reaching 0.3 to 1 meters above the tide level were possible for some coasts of Niue and Tonga.
At the time, Tsunami waves were forecast to be less than 0.3 meters above the tide level for the coasts of American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, Kermadec Islands, Kiribati, Samoa,Tokelau, Tuvalu and Wallis and Futuna.
Tonga Geological Services
Tonga Geological Services reported a 7.0 M earthquake with the following parameters:
The strength of the earthquake was reported at varying magnitudes in early reports:
Tonga Geological Services 7.0M
Tonga Meteorological Services 7.1- 7.2M
NWS Pacific Warning Centre Honolulu, 7.3M
