M5.0 earthquake 66 km ESE of Neiafu, Tonga
A magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck 66 km ESE of Neiafu, Tonga on Wed, Jul 26, 2006, 4:26 PM GMT+13 (03:26 UTC), 33 km (20 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M5.2 77 km SSE of Neiafu, Tonga. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.0 (Mwc, centroid moment), moderate
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2006-07-26 03:26:21 UTC
- Depth
- 32.5 km (20.2 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 18.874° S, 173.397° 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.0 | Mwc, centroid moment | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed |
| 5.05 | Mw, moment | ISC-GEM global catalog | Final · ±0.1 |
| 5.0 | 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 usp000epkv. 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
- Reverse (thrust)
- Nodal plane 1
- Strike 209°, dip 32°, rake 91°
- Nodal plane 2
- Strike 28°, dip 58°, rake 90°
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Depth from
- CONSTRAINED_BY_DEPTH_PHASES
- Station coverage gap
- 90°
- Stations used
- 55
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.0 and up: 9 in the 60 days after this one and 2 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.663 km ESE of Neiafu, Tonga · 7374 days ago · 50 km deep · 11 km away
- 5.277 km SSE of Neiafu, Tonga · 7370 days ago · 29 km deep · 49 km away
- 5.273 km SE of Neiafu, Tonga · 7370 days ago · 32 km deep · 38 km away
- 4.4102 km ENE of Neiafu, Tonga · 7347 days ago · 35 km deep · 61 km away
- 4.660 km ENE of Pangai, Tonga · 7340 days ago · 92 km deep · 97 km away
- 4.786 km NE of Neiafu, Tonga · 7339 days ago · 35 km deep · 80 km away
- 4.740 km N of Neiafu, Tonga · 7338 days ago · 31 km deep · 90 km away
- 4.3100 km E of Neiafu, Tonga · 7337 days ago · 35 km deep · 51 km away
- 4.7128 km ENE of Neiafu, Tonga · 7330 days ago · 35 km deep · 92 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp000epkv (also filed as gcmtc200607260326a, gcmt20060726032621, iscgem8567653). Read Sun, Oct 4, 2026, 10:39 PM UTC.