M5.2 earthquake 80 km S of Pangai, Tonga

Saturday, June 3, 2006, 15:27:52 UTC · 20.545°S, 174.352°W

A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck 80 km S of Pangai, Tonga on Saturday, June 3, 2006, 15:27:52 UTC, at a depth of 38.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.2 on June 2, 2006.

Magnitude: 5.2; Moderate · mwc
Depth: 38 km; Shallow
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: 75 km aftershock search area

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

951 tons of TNT

That is about 1/16 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 2 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

92 km

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

Depth: shallow

38 km

Shallow earthquakes (under 70 km) produce the strongest surface shaking for their size, so they are the ones most likely to cause damage near the epicenter.

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 75 km

USGS lists 16 M2.5+ earthquakes within 75 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.0 on June 28, 2006. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 1,165 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 12 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:

1865M8.0
Tonga Islands
18 Nov 1865 · 146 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
2006M7.9
Tonga Islands
3 May 2006 · 46 km away · intensity VII
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
1937M8.1
Fiji Islands
16 Apr 1937 · 295 km away
1903M8.0
Tonga Islands
4 Jan 1903 · 91 km away
1948M7.9
Tonga Islands
8 Sep 1948 · 62 km away
tsunami
1902M7.8
Tonga Islands
9 Feb 1902 · 71 km away

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

Nearby trackers