M5.1 earthquake 114 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck 114 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga on Fri, Mar 6, 2009, 9:19 AM GMT-11 (20:19 UTC), 10 km (6 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M5.6 87 km N of Hihifo, Tonga. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.1 (Mwc, centroid moment), moderate
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2009-03-06 20:19:04 UTC
- Depth
- 10.0 km (6.2 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 14.983° S, 173.428° 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.1 | Mwc, centroid moment | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed |
| 5.12 | Mw, moment | ISC-GEM global catalog | Final · ±0.1 |
| 5.1 | 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 usp000guq0. 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 107°, dip 68°, rake -10°
- Nodal plane 2
- Strike 201°, dip 81°, rake -158°
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Depth from
- OPERATOR_ASSIGNED
- Station coverage gap
- 100°
- Stations used
- 77
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.1 and up: 6 in the 60 days after this one and 5 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.794 km ENE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6421 days ago · 10 km deep · 76 km away
- 5.585 km NE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6413 days ago · 35 km deep · 53 km away
- 5.287 km N of Hihifo, Tonga · 6404 days ago · 5 km deep · 37 km away
- 5.048 km NE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6397 days ago · 58 km deep · 76 km away
- 4.461 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6389 days ago · 149 km deep · 56 km away
- 5.687 km N of Hihifo, Tonga · 6377 days ago · 35 km deep · 38 km away · felt by 3
Before
- 5.390 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6422 days ago · 10 km deep · 32 km away
- 5.1103 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6422 days ago · 10 km deep · 11 km away
- 5.8102 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6422 days ago · 3 km deep · 23 km away
- 4.5123 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6423 days ago · 35 km deep · 23 km away
- 4.891 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga · 6441 days ago · 35 km deep · 23 km away
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp000guq0 (also filed as gcmtc200903062019a, gcmt20090306201904, iscgem11788737). Read Mon, Oct 5, 2026, 2:37 PM UTC.