JUST IN: 5.8 magnitude earthquake hits southeast of Tonga, USGS reports https://t.co/8smtiR8dcipic.twitter.com/DHUNkpFDiR
— RT (@RT_com) April 17, 2016
A 5.8-magnitude earthquake struck the Polynesian kingdom of Tonga Sunday, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The quake struck in the Pacific around 7:30 p.m. local time (3:30 a.m. EST), according to the USGS map. Its epicenter was located about 161 miles southeast of Onohua on the island of Eua. While most of the kingdom’s 170 islands are uninhabited, Eua is known for its rain forests and tourism.
According to news reports, the part of the South Pacific Ocean around Tonga is one of the most seismically active areas of the world, the USGS said, due to convergence between the Australia and Pacific tectonic plates.
https://t.co/PMBNMpeC3G #JARVIS @USATODAY #Tonga
— Jarvis (@JarvisNewsApp) April 17, 2016
Powerful earthquake strikes island nation of Tonga https://t.co/ov0cCX3sNP
— orrh (@orrh) April 17, 2016
The tremors were detected just hours after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck off the country’s northwest Pacific coast late on Saturday, killing at least 77 and injuring over 500 in Ecuador.