M4.9 earthquake 281 km SW of Vaini, Tonga
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck 281 km SW of Vaini, Tonga on Sat, Mar 25, 2006, 11:42 PM GMT+13 (10:42 UTC), 128 km (79 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M5.2 197 km SW of Vaini, Tonga. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 4.9 (Mwc, centroid moment), light
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2006-03-25 10:42:35 UTC
- Depth
- 127.5 km (79.2 mi), intermediate-depth
- Epicenter
- 23.127° S, 176.942° 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.9 | Mwc, centroid moment | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed |
| 4.9 | 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 usp000ecwq. 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 290°, dip 57°, rake 4°
- Nodal plane 2
- Strike 198°, dip 87°, rake 147°
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Station coverage gap
- 47°
- Stations used
- 69
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.9 and up: 5 in the 60 days after this one and 1 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.9215 km SW of Haveluloto, Tonga · 7494 days ago · 147 km deep · 92 km away
- 5.1south of the Fiji Islands · 7492 days ago · 276 km deep · 96 km away
- 5.2197 km SW of Vaini, Tonga · 7452 days ago · 110 km deep · 85 km away
- 4.8214 km SW of ‘Ohonua, Tonga · 7445 days ago · 35 km deep · 82 km away
- 4.7south of the Fiji Islands · 7440 days ago · 123 km deep · 81 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp000ecwq (also filed as gcmtc200603251042a, gcmt20060325104235). Read Sun, Oct 4, 2026, 12:57 PM UTC.