Strong mag. 6.2 earthquake - Tonga on Tuesday, 8 January 1991 at 22:04 (GMT)

Strong mag. 6.2 earthquake - Tonga on Tuesday, 8 January 1991 at 22:04 (GMT)

Strong magnitude 6.2 earthquake at 33 km depth

Date & time: 8 Jan 1991 22:04:09 UTC
Magnitude: 6.2
Depth: 32.9 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 18.057°S / 173.534°W (Tonga)
Nearest volcano: Toku (69 km / 43 mi)
Nearby towns and cities:
81 km (51 mi) NE of Neiafu (pop: 4,320) --> See nearby quakes!
385 km (239 mi) NNE of Nuku'alofa (pop: 22,400) --> See nearby quakes!
Primary data source: USGS (United States Geological Survey)
Estimated released energy: 1.3 x 1014 joules (35 gigawatt hours, equivalent to 30089 tons of TNT or 1.9 atomic bombs!) More info
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Data for the same earthquake reported by different agencies

Info: The more agencies report about the same quake and post similar data, the more confidence you can have in the data. It takes normally up to a few hours until earthquake parameters are calculated with near-optimum precision.
MagnitudeDepthLocationSource
M 6.233 kmTongaUSGS
Note: for quakes of 2012 and earlier, our database often contains only records from USGS.

User reports for this quake

User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale.
There are no user reports for this quake yet. If you felt it be the first to report it!
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Aftershocks of the 6.2 quake Tonga 8 January 1991 22:04 GMT

More info
Recorded aftershocks, latest first (5 quakes):
  • 15 Mar 1991 21:52 UTC
    | M 5.4 |
    77.8 km (48.3 mi) depth
    |
    65 km (40 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 12 Jan 1991 23:08 UTC
    | M 5.3 |
    33 km (20.5 mi) depth
    |
    69 km (43 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 12 Jan 1991 06:03 UTC
    | M 5.6 |
    33 km (20.5 mi) depth
    |
    2 km (1 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 12 Jan 1991 05:45 UTC
    | M 5.1 |
    33 km (20.5 mi) depth
    |
    40 km (25 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 10 Jan 1991 03:41 UTC
    | M 5.7 |
    22.6 km (14 mi) depth
    |
    8 km (5 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details

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Earlier earthquakes in the same area

Strong mag. 6.2 earthquake - Tonga on Tuesday, 8 January 1991 at 22:04 (GMT)
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