Moderate mag. 5.4 earthquake - Tonga (Samoa) on Monday, 5 August 1996 at 17:01 (GMT)

Moderate mag. 5.4 earthquake - Tonga (Samoa) on Monday, 5 August 1996 at 17:01 (GMT)

Moderate magnitude 5.4 earthquake at 33 km depth

Date & time: 5 Aug 1996 17:01:05 UTC
Magnitude: 5.4
Depth: 33.0 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 15.293°S / 173.332°W (Samoa)
Nearest volcano: West Mata (50 km / 31 mi)
Nearby towns and cities:
89 km (55 mi) NE of Hihifo (Tonga) (pop: 815) --> See nearby quakes!
204 km (126 mi) SSW of Vailoa (pop: 769) --> See nearby quakes!
211 km (131 mi) SSW of Asau (pop: 6,640) --> See nearby quakes!
214 km (133 mi) SW of Mulifanua (pop: 4,510) --> See nearby quakes!
223 km (138 mi) SW of Fasito‘outa (pop: 2,100) --> See nearby quakes!
228 km (142 mi) SSW of Safotu (pop: 1,210) --> See nearby quakes!
234 km (145 mi) SW of Apia (pop: 40,400) --> See nearby quakes!
244 km (152 mi) SW of Lufilufi (pop: 1,070) --> See nearby quakes!
300 km (187 mi) WSW of Tāfuna (Tualauta, American Samoa) (pop: 11,000) --> See nearby quakes!
304 km (189 mi) WSW of Pago Pago (Ma'Oputasi, American Samoa) (pop: 11,500) --> See nearby quakes!
Primary data source: USGS (United States Geological Survey)
Estimated released energy: 7.9 x 1012 joules (2.21 gigawatt hours, equivalent to 1898 tons of TNT or 0.1 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 5.433 kmTonga (Samoa)USGS
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 5.4 quake Tonga (Samoa) 5 August 1996 17:01 GMT

More info
Recorded aftershocks, latest first (1 quakes):
  • 15 Aug 1996 09:34 UTC
    | M 4.5 |
    33 km (20.5 mi) depth
    |
    15 km (9 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details

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Earlier earthquakes in the same area

Moderate mag. 5.4 earthquake - Tonga (Samoa) on Monday, 5 August 1996 at 17:01 (GMT)
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