Photo: USGS
A 6.3-magnitude earthquake was reported in Tonga on Sunday (March 22), according to the United States Geological Survey.
The earthquake was reported 144 kilometers (about 89.5 miles) northeast of Hihifo and centered at a depth of 4.9 kilometers (about 3.0 miles) at 3:30 p.m. UTC. The USGS said it received zero reports of people having felt the earthquake at the time of publication on Friday.
There are currently no tsunami warnings, according to Tsunami.gov. A 6.2-magnitude earthquake was reported in Samoa three minutes prior to the 6.3-magnitude earthquake in Tonga, while 5.6-magnitude aftershock was reported in Hihifo about 30 minutes later.
The 63-magnitude earthquake was the largest reported in Hihifo in the past month and was among six in the past 24 hours; seven in the past seven days; 11 in the past 30 days; and 76 in the past year among earthquakes measuring at 1.5-magnitude or greater, according to EarthquakeTrack.com.
Earthquakes measured between 2.5 and 5.4 magnitude can be felt by a large population, however, rarely results in much damage, according to Michigan Tech via the Sacramento Bee. An estimated 500,000 detectable earthquakes are reported worldwide annually, however, around 100,000 are felt and only 100 typically result in serious damage.
Officials strongly advise that anyone caught in an earthquake should drop, cover and hold on, according to the Sacramento Bee.