M6.2 earthquake 147 km SSW of Lotofag?, Samoa
A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck 147 km SSW of Lotofag?, Samoa on Thu, Dec 13, 2007, 4:51 AM GMT-11 (15:51 UTC), 17 km (11 mi) below the surface.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 6.2 (Mwc, centroid moment), strong
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2007-12-13 15:51:27 UTC
- Depth
- 17.0 km (10.6 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 15.213° S, 172.367° W
- Region
- Samoa
- Felt reports
- 3
- 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6.2 | Mwc, centroid moment | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed |
| 6.16 | Mw, moment | ISC-GEM global catalog | Final · ±0.1 |
| 6.2 | Mwc, centroid moment | Global CMT project | Preliminary |
| 5.76 | Me, energy | Choy, USGS energy magnitude | Reviewed |
What happened
The USGS’s account of the effects of this earthquake.
Felt (IV) at Apia. Also felt at Pago Pago and Tafuna, American Samoa.
From the USGS event page for usp000fud1. U.S. Geological Survey text and figures are in the public domain.
Did you feel it?
3 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
- Normal
- Nodal plane 1
- Strike 161°, dip 46°, rake -67°
- Nodal plane 2
- Strike 308°, dip 49°, rake -112°
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Depth from
- OPERATOR_ASSIGNED
- Station coverage gap
- 24°
- Stations used
- 427
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 3.2 and up: 6 in the 60 days after this one and 0 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.574 km NE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6863 days ago · 10 km deep · 100 km away
- 4.694 km ENE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6863 days ago · 10 km deep · 81 km away
- 4.4106 km NE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6859 days ago · 10 km deep · 76 km away
- 4.7118 km E of Hihifo, Tonga · 6851 days ago · 35 km deep · 79 km away
- 3.8102 km E of Hihifo, Tonga · 6840 days ago · 35 km deep · 96 km away
- 4.9112 km E of Hihifo, Tonga · 6814 days ago · 10 km deep · 82 km away
Earthquakes todaySamoa earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp000fud1 (also filed as us2007kwa8, choy20071213155126, gcmtc200712131551a, gcmt20071213155126, iscgem13288880). Read Sun, Oct 4, 2026, 6:39 AM UTC.