February 23, 2006 Earthquake: Tashigang, Bhutan
A magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck Tashigang, Bhutan on February 23, 2006 at 20:04:53 UTC, 10 km below the surface.
Map
Where it struck, with the other significant earthquakes within 200 km. Circles are sized and colored by magnitude; select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Date
- February 23, 2006
- Time
- 20:04:53 UTC
- Place
- Tashigang, Bhutan
- Magnitude
- 5.8 (Mw)
- Magnitude scales
- Mw 5.8 · Ms 5.3 · mb 5.5
- Focal depth
- 10 km (6 mi)
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 26.912° N, 91.705° E
- Country
- Bhutan
- Region
- South and Southeast Asia and Indian Ocean
- USGS record
- The USGS’s page for this earthquake
Mw: moment magnitude, based on the slip on the fault and the area that slipped. Ms: surface-wave magnitude. mb: body-wave (P-wave) magnitude. NCEI’s headline magnitude is the best of these for the earthquake.
The toll
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million)
- Houses destroyed
- 126
- Houses damaged
- 126
Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.
What happened
The USGS’s account of the effects of this earthquake.
At least 126 buildings damaged in Tashigang, Bhutan. Felt (V) at Dewathang and Samdrup Jongkar; (IV) at Bomdila, Dhubri, Itanagar and Shillong. Felt at Guwahati and in parts of Nagaland. Also felt (IV) at Thimphu, Bhutan.
From the USGS event page for usp000eaq0. U.S. Geological Survey text and figures are in the public domain.
Magnitude estimates
The magnitudes the USGS catalog lists for this earthquake, by scale and by who computed them. NCEI’s own scales are in the table above.
| Mag. | Scale | Computed by | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.8 | Mwb, body-wave moment | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed |
| 5.46 | Mw, moment | ISC-GEM global catalog | Final · ±0.1 |
| 5.4 | Mwc, centroid moment | Global CMT project | Preliminary |
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
At least 126 buildings damaged in Tashigang, Bhutan. Felt (V) at Dewathang and Samdrup Jongkar; (IV) at Bomdila,
Dhubri, Itanagar and Shillong. Felt at Guwahati and in
parts of Nagaland. Also felt (IV) at Thimphu, Bhutan. (above from reference #1053)
Sources NCEI cites
The publications NCEI lists for this record. The numbers match the “reference #” notes in its account above.
- #1053 National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC) (1971 to 2013). Preliminary Determination of Epicenters (PDE), a weekly and monthly publication, National Earthquake Information Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Golden, Colorado, 1971 to 2013.
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- June 12, 1897, Assam, Bangladesh, India
- June 11, 1806, Shannan (Lhoka), Tibet (Xizang Province), China
- September 21, 2009, Tashigang, Bhutan
- April 28, 2021, Assam, India
- September 12, 2018, West Bengal, India
- October 29, 2009, Mongar, Pemagatsel, Tashigang, Bhutan
- December 31, 2009, Dametsi, Bhutan
- June 28, 2015, Kokrajhar, India
- May 11, 2012, Kamrup, Guwahati, Assam, India
- 1713, Arunachal, Bhutan, India
- December 10, 1846, India
More
Significant earthquakes of 2006The 2000sEvery quake the USGS located in 2006Recent earthquakes near hereThis day in weather history
Sources
Significant earthquakes from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-10-01. NCEI earthquake 7226. The written accounts and the magnitude estimates are from the USGS earthquake catalog, event usp000eaq0, matched to this record by time, place and magnitude.