An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.9 occurs in Tonga during a meeting of Pacific leaders.

Antonio Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, is among the distinguished delegates attending the Pacific Islands Forum, which is being held in the seaside capital of Tonga, Nuku’alofa.

The United States Geological Survey reported that a magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck the Pacific Kingdom of Tonga on Monday, August 26, 2024, during a critical regional summit with foreign leaders.

The Pacific Islands Forum is being hosted by Nuku’alofa, the seaside capital of Tonga, and is attended by a number of high-profile delegates, including United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Despite the fact that the tremor did not result in a tsunami warning, a few businesses located in close proximity to the coast were temporarily relocated to higher ground.

Buildings at the forum’s newly constructed venue were rocked by the offshore seismic, which occurred at a depth of approximately 106 kilometers (66 miles).

However, in a city where earthquakes are relatively frequent, business as usual was shortly resumed.

Tonga is situated on the seismic Ring of Fire, a region of intensive tectonic activity that extends across the Pacific basin and through Southeast Asia.

The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcanic eruption of 2022 resulted in the blanketing of ash and the destruction of vast areas of the Tongan archipelago by a tsunami.