M5.1 earthquake 299 km WNW of Neiafu, Tonga
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck 299 km WNW of Neiafu, Tonga on Tue, Mar 14, 2006, 6:29 PM GMT+13 (05:29 UTC), 35 km (22 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M5.3 Fiji region. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.1 (Mwc, centroid moment), moderate
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2006-03-14 05:29:05 UTC
- Depth
- 35.0 km (21.7 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 17.825° S, 176.677° W
- Region
- Tonga
- 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 |
| 5.06 | 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 usp000ec4a. 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
- Strike-slip
- Nodal plane 1
- Strike 47°, dip 52°, rake -6°
- Nodal plane 2
- Strike 141°, dip 85°, rake -142°
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Depth from
- OPERATOR_ASSIGNED
- Station coverage gap
- 137°
- Stations used
- 25
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.1 and up: 3 in the 60 days after this one and 2 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 3.5276 km W of Neiafu, Tonga · 7489 days ago · 305 km deep · 56 km away
- 5.3Fiji region · 7489 days ago · 35 km deep · 85 km away
- 4.0Fiji region · 7485 days ago · 381 km deep · 67 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp000ec4a (also filed as gcmtc200603140529a, gcmt20060314052905, iscgem10603392). Read Sun, Oct 4, 2026, 8:39 PM UTC.