M5.0 earthquake 90 km NW of Pangai, Tonga
A magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck 90 km NW of Pangai, Tonga on Fri, Jan 2, 2009, 9:51 PM GMT+13 (08:51 UTC), 150 km (93 mi) below the surface.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.0 (Mwc, centroid moment), moderate
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2009-01-02 08:51:34 UTC
- Depth
- 149.6 km (93.0 mi), intermediate-depth
- Epicenter
- 19.186° S, 174.908° W
- Region
- Tonga
- Felt reports
- 4
- 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.0 | Mwc, centroid moment | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed |
| 5.04 | Mw, moment | ISC-GEM global catalog | Final · ±0.1 |
| 5.0 | Mwc, centroid moment | Global CMT project | Preliminary |
What happened
The USGS’s account of the effects of this earthquake.
Felt at Neiafu and Pangai.
From the USGS event page for usp000gs0d. U.S. Geological Survey text and figures are in the public domain.
Did you feel it?
4 people reported to the USGS what they felt; the strongest reported shaking was II, weak shaking.
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 309°, dip 22°, rake 22°
- Nodal plane 2
- Strike 198°, dip 82°, rake 110°
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Station coverage gap
- 40°
- Stations used
- 104
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.0 and up: 2 in the 60 days after this one and 3 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.658 km WNW of Neiafu, Tonga · 6461 days ago · 42 km deep · 96 km away
- 4.9118 km W of Neiafu, Tonga · 6432 days ago · 175 km deep · 42 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayTonga earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp000gs0d (also filed as us2009biaz, gcmtc200901020851a, gcmt20090102085134, iscgem11528171). Read Sun, Oct 4, 2026, 12:44 PM UTC.