M6.1 earthquake 122 km NNW of Nuku‘alofa, Tonga
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck 122 km NNW of Nuku‘alofa, Tonga on Sun, Mar 5, 2006, 9:07 PM GMT+13 (08:07 UTC), 206 km (128 mi) below the surface.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 6.1 (Mwc, centroid moment), strong
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2006-03-05 08:07:56 UTC
- Depth
- 205.8 km (127.9 mi), intermediate-depth
- Epicenter
- 20.118° S, 175.661° W
- Region
- Tonga
- Felt reports
- 2
- 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6.1 | Mwc, centroid moment | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed |
| 6.08 | Mw, moment | ISC-GEM global catalog | Final · ±0.1 |
| 6.1 | Mwc, centroid moment | Global CMT project | Preliminary |
What happened
The USGS’s account of the effects of this earthquake.
Felt at Neiafu and Nuku`alofa.
From the USGS event page for usp000ebf3. U.S. Geological Survey text and figures are in the public domain.
Did you feel it?
2 people reported to the USGS what they felt; the strongest reported shaking was IV, light shaking.
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 231°, dip 58°, rake -169°
- Nodal plane 2
- Strike 135°, dip 81°, rake -33°
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Depth from
- CONSTRAINED_BY_DEPTH_PHASES
- Station coverage gap
- 29°
- Stations used
- 492
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 3.1 and up: 8 in the 60 days after this one and 0 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.7139 km NNW of Nuku‘alofa, Tonga · 7514 days ago · 133 km deep · 25 km away
- 4.7104 km W of Pangai, Tonga · 7499 days ago · 96 km deep · 46 km away
- 4.2163 km W of Pangai, Tonga · 7491 days ago · 143 km deep · 44 km away
- 4.255 km W of Pangai, Tonga · 7489 days ago · 28 km deep · 92 km away
- 4.5129 km NNW of Nuku‘alofa, Tonga · 7482 days ago · 10 km deep · 9 km away
- 4.3150 km W of Pangai, Tonga · 7466 days ago · 189 km deep · 38 km away
- 4.2101 km NNW of Nuku‘alofa, Tonga · 7465 days ago · 244 km deep · 22 km away
- 4.4116 km W of Pangai, Tonga · 7460 days ago · 35 km deep · 35 km away
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp000ebf3 (also filed as us2006jxam, gcmtc200603050807a, gcmt20060305080756, iscgem10597729). Read Mon, Oct 5, 2026, 8:37 AM UTC.