QuakeScout
Magnitude4.5

Reviewed by USGSTonga20y ago

M4.5 earthquake 186 km NW of Neiafu, Tonga

Thursday, June 1, 2006, 12:37:08 UTC · 17.467°S, 175.232°W

A magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck 186 km NW of Neiafu, Tonga on Thursday, June 1, 2006, 12:37:08 UTC, at a depth of 271.7 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.7 on June 1, 2006.

Magnitude
4.5
Light · mb
Depth
272 km
Intermediate
Felt reports
0
Did You Feel It?
Est. shaking
—
No ShakeMap
PAGER alert
None
Not issued
Tsunami
No flag
USGS feed

Outlined circle: this earthquakeDashed circle: 50 km aftershock search area

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

85 tons of TNT

That is about 1/178 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 6 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

68 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Tonga and Niuafo'ou plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.

Depth: intermediate

272 km

Intermediate-depth earthquakes usually break inside a plate that is sinking into the mantle. Shaking spreads over a wide area but is gentler at the epicenter than a shallow quake of the same size.

Did You Feel It?

Where it was felt

No “Did You Feel It?” reports have been published for this event yet. If you felt it, you can add your report on the USGS website.

I felt it — report to USGS ↗

USGS PAGER estimate

Who was exposed to shaking

USGS publishes PAGER impact estimates for significant earthquakes, usually within an hour. No PAGER estimate is available for this event.

After the main event

Aftershocks within 50 km

USGS lists 1 M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.2 on June 19, 2006. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

M3M4M51h6h1d3d7d14d30dMainshock M4.5
Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.
  1. 5.2164 km NW of Neiafu, Tonga20y ago · 28 km S of this epicenter

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 1,258 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 8.0TongaJanuary 4, 1903 · 283 km S of this epicenter
  2. 7.8159 km W of Pangai, TongaDecember 14, 1950 · 258 km S of this epicenter
  3. 7.4103 km ESE of Neiafu, TongaFebruary 27, 1921 · 282 km SE of this epicenter
  4. 7.385 km ESE of Neiafu, TongaJanuary 2, 1907 · 270 km SE of this epicenter
  5. 7.2108 km SE of Neiafu, TongaDecember 19, 1906 · 294 km SE of this epicenter
  6. 7.2Fiji regionMarch 31, 1907 · 195 km W of this epicenter
  7. 7.2117 km SSW of Hihifo, TongaJanuary 8, 2000 · 121 km NE of this epicenter
  8. 7.219 km ENE of Hihifo, TongaOctober 15, 1984 · 246 km NE of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 5 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:

  1. 1865M8.0

    Tonga Islands

    18 Nov 1865 · 291 km away

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  2. 1903M8.0

    Tonga Islands

    4 Jan 1903 · 283 km away

  3. 1950M7.7

    Tonga Islands

    14 Dec 1950 · 240 km away · intensity VI

  4. 1949M6.9

    Tonga Islands

    6 Aug 1949 · 203 km away

  5. 1928

    Lifuka Island

    18 May 1928 · 278 km away

    tsunami

NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.

Nearby trackers

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