M5.1 earthquake 92 km NW of Neiafu, Tonga
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck 92 km NW of Neiafu, Tonga on Sat, Sep 9, 2006, 3:11 AM GMT+13 (14:11 UTC), 132 km (82 mi) below the surface.
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
- 2006-09-08 14:11:31 UTC
- Depth
- 131.9 km (82.0 mi), intermediate-depth
- Epicenter
- 18.030° S, 174.569° 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 |
| 5.14 | 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 usp000espv. 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 215°, dip 11°, rake -69°
- Nodal plane 2
- Strike 14°, dip 80°, rake -94°
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Depth from
- CONSTRAINED_BY_DEPTH_PHASES
- Station coverage gap
- 36°
- Stations used
- 200
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.1 and up: 2 in the 60 days after this one and 3 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.435 km W of Neiafu, Tonga · 7317 days ago · 106 km deep · 70 km away
- 4.2160 km NNW of Neiafu, Tonga · 7293 days ago · 61 km deep · 80 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp000espv (also filed as gcmtc200609081411a, gcmt20060908141131, iscgem8663806). Read Mon, Oct 5, 2026, 12:01 PM UTC.