Fiji earthquakes

M6.5 earthquake Fiji region

A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck in the Fiji region on Tue, Jan 15, 2008, 5:52 AM GMT-12 (17:52 UTC), 598 km (371 mi) below the surface.

Map

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

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The earthquake

Magnitude: 6.5 (Mwc, centroid moment), strong
Magnitude from: USGS National Earthquake Information Center
Local time: Tue, Jan 15, 2008, 5:52 AM GMT-12
UTC: 2008-01-15 17:52:15 UTC
Depth: 597.6 km (371.3 mi), deep
Epicenter: 21.984° S, 179.535° W
Region: Fiji
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
6.5	Mwc, centroid moment	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Preferred · Reviewed
6.52	Mw, moment	ISC-GEM global catalog	Final · ±0.1
6.5	Mwc, centroid moment	Global CMT project	Preliminary
5.67	Me, energy	Choy, USGS energy magnitude	Reviewed
6.5	Mww, W-phase moment	Duputel, W-phase inversion	Preliminary

What happened

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

Felt at Lami.

From the USGS event page for usp000fwsh. 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
Moment magnitude: 6.5 Mww
Nodal plane 1: Strike 103°, dip 19°, rake 169°
Nodal plane 2: Strike 203°, dip 86°, rake 70°

How well it is located

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Depth from: CONSTRAINED_BY_DEPTH_PHASES
Station coverage gap: 16°
Stations used: 484

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 3.5 and up: 17 in the 60 days after this one and 4 in the 30 days before it.

After

Before

Earthquakes today Fiji earthquakes Live radar here

Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp000fwsh (also filed as choy20080115175215, gcmtc200801151752a, gcmt20080115175215, duputel200801151752a, iscgem13335302). Read Sat, Oct 3, 2026, 3:36 PM UTC.