Fiji earthquakes

M6.1 earthquake Fiji region

A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck in the Fiji region on Wed, Apr 29, 2015, 5:39 AM GMT+13 (16:39 UTC), 581 km (361 mi) below the surface.

Nuku‘alofa forecast More in Fiji

Map

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

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The earthquake

Magnitude: 6.1 (Mww, W-phase moment), strong
Magnitude from: USGS National Earthquake Information Center
Local time: Wed, Apr 29, 2015, 5:39 AM GMT+13
UTC: 2015-04-28 16:39:39 UTC
Depth: 581.0 km (361.0 mi), deep
Epicenter: 20.887° S, 178.633° W
Region: Fiji
Felt reports: 1
Strongest shaking: IV, light shaking
PAGER alert: Green
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
6.1	Mww, W-phase moment	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Preferred · Reviewed
6.08	Mw, moment	ISC-GEM global catalog	Final · ±0.1
6.1	Mwc, centroid moment	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Moment tensor · Reviewed
6.2	Mwb, body-wave moment	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Moment tensor · Reviewed

Shaking

The USGS ShakeMap: shaking estimated from seismic stations and the quake’s size, on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale.

Strongest estimated: IV, light shaking
Map: Automatic

USGS ShakeMap: estimated shaking intensity around the epicenter — Estimated shaking intensity. Map: USGS ShakeMap.

Did you feel it?

1 person reported to the USGS what they felt; the strongest reported shaking was I, not felt shaking.

Estimated impact

The USGS PAGER system estimates deaths and economic losses from the shaking and the population and buildings exposed to it.

Alert level: Green: little or no damage or loss of life expected

Fault motion and ground failure

How the rock slipped, from the moment tensor, and the USGS estimate of landslides and liquefaction.

Faulting: Normal
Moment magnitude: 6.1 Mww
Nodal plane 1: Strike 55°, dip 77°, rake -107°
Nodal plane 2: Strike 289°, dip 22°, rake -37°

How well it is located

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Location uncertainty: About 8.9 km horizontally, 1.8 km in depth
Depth from: From modeling of broad-band P waveforms
Station coverage gap: 13°
Stations used: 777

Nearest places

Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.

Nuku‘alofa, TongaPopulation 22,400. Forecast357 kmW

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 3.1 and up: 29 in the 60 days after this one and 9 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 us200029x8 (also filed as gcmt20150428163939, iscgem610587943). Read Sun, Oct 4, 2026, 12:37 PM UTC.