Tonga earthquakes

M6.0 earthquake 99 km SSE of Pangai, Tonga

A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck 99 km SSE of Pangai, Tonga on Wed, May 17, 2006, 4:06 PM GMT+13 (03:06 UTC), 11 km (7 mi) below the surface.

Nuku‘alofa forecast More in Tonga

Map

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

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The earthquake

Magnitude: 6.0 (Mwb, body-wave moment), strong
Magnitude from: USGS National Earthquake Information Center
Local time: Wed, May 17, 2006, 4:06 PM GMT+13
UTC: 2006-05-17 03:06:16 UTC
Depth: 11.0 km (6.8 mi), shallow
Epicenter: 20.634° S, 173.952° 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
6.0	Mwb, body-wave moment	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Preferred · Reviewed
5.78	Mw, moment	ISC-GEM global catalog	Final · ±0.1
5.8	Mwc, centroid moment	Global CMT project	Preliminary
5.9	Me, energy	Choy, USGS energy magnitude	Reviewed

What happened

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

Felt on Tonga and the Ha'apai Islands.

From the USGS event page for usp000ehae. 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 83°, dip 39°, rake -14°
Nodal plane 2: Strike 185°, dip 81°, rake -128°

How well it is located

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Depth from: OPERATOR_ASSIGNED
Station coverage gap: 35°
Stations used: 360

Nearest places

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

Nuku‘alofa, TongaPopulation 22,400. Forecast141 kmENE

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 3.0 and up: 55 in the 60 days after this one and 112 in the 30 days before it.

After

Before

Earthquakes today Tonga earthquakes Live radar here

Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp000ehae (also filed as choy20060517030616, gcmtc200605170306a, gcmt20060517030616, iscgem9149458). Read Sun, Oct 4, 2026, 6:50 PM UTC.