Fiji earthquakes

M5.1 earthquake Fiji region

A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck in the Fiji region on Sun, Jul 16, 2006, 10:20 AM GMT+13 (21:20 UTC), 506 km (314 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M5.7 Fiji region. This one was a foreshock.

Nuku‘alofa forecast More in Fiji

Map

Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.

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The earthquake

Magnitude: 5.1 (Mwc, centroid moment), moderate
Magnitude from: USGS National Earthquake Information Center
Local time: Sun, Jul 16, 2006, 10:20 AM GMT+13
UTC: 2006-07-15 21:20:29 UTC
Depth: 505.6 km (314.2 mi), deep
Epicenter: 20.822° S, 178.540° W
Region: Fiji
Tsunami flag: No
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

Magnitude estimates

Different scales measure different things and differ by a few tenths. The USGS marks one as preferred, and it is the one this page uses.

Mag.	Scale	Computed by	Notes
5.1	Mwc, centroid moment	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Preferred · Reviewed
5.14	Mw, moment	ISC-GEM global catalog	Final · ±0.1
5.1	Mwc, centroid moment	Global CMT project	Preliminary

What happened

The USGS’s account of the effects of this earthquake.

no people dead or missing; no people injured; no buildings damaged or destroyed

From the USGS event page for usp000enpg. U.S. Geological Survey text and figures are in the public domain.

Did you feel it?

No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.

Fault motion and ground failure

How the rock slipped, from the moment tensor, and the USGS estimate of landslides and liquefaction.

Faulting: Normal
Nodal plane 1: Strike 221°, dip 31°, rake -91°
Nodal plane 2: Strike 43°, dip 59°, rake -89°

How well it is located

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Station coverage gap: 57°
Stations used: 137

Nearest places

Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.

Nuku‘alofa, TongaPopulation 22,400. Forecast348 kmW

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 2.1 and up: 25 in the 60 days after this one and 9 in the 30 days before it.

After

Before

Earthquakes today Fiji earthquakes Live radar here

Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp000enpg (also filed as gcmtb200607152120a, gcmt20060715212029, iscgem8531140). Read Sat, Oct 3, 2026, 3:37 AM UTC.