Reviewed by USGSEcuador101y ago
M5.5 earthquake 24 km SSW of Muisne, Ecuador
Saturday, March 27, 1926, 06:23:29 UTC · 0.406°N, 80.099°W
A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck 24 km SSW of Muisne, Ecuador on Saturday, March 27, 1926, 06:23:29 UTC, at a depth of 11.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.1 on October 18, 1924.
- Magnitude
- 5.5
- Moderate · mw
- Depth
- 11 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 earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
3 kilotons of TNT
That is about 1/5 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 6 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
79 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Nazca and North Andes plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
11 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 has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 75 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 8 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.81906 Ecuador-Colombia EarthquakeJanuary 31, 1906 · 102 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.813 km N of Muisne, EcuadorJune 30, 1916 · 38 km N of this epicenter
- 6.667 km NNW of Esmeraldas, EcuadorJune 1, 1907 · 122 km N of this epicenter
- 6.5197 km NW of Manta, EcuadorNovember 18, 1914 · 206 km W of this epicenter
- 6.537 km SSW of La Tola, ColombiaJune 5, 1907 · 272 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.328 km WNW of El Ángel, EcuadorDecember 14, 1923 · 215 km E of this epicenter
- 6.233 km W of Ambato, EcuadorJuly 22, 1924 · 226 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.1167 km WNW of Mosquera, ColombiaOctober 18, 1924 · 285 km N of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 16 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 112,340 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1868M7.7
Guayaquil,Ibarra; Colombia: San Pablo
16 Aug 1868 · 214 km away · intensity X
70,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1797M8.3
Riobamba, Quito, Cuzco; Peru; Colombia
4 Feb 1797 · 277 km away · intensity XI
40,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1906M8.8
Off Coast
31 Jan 1906 · 102 km away · intensity IX
1,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1757M7.0
Cotopaxi,Tungurahua, Latacunga
22 Feb 1757 · 221 km away · intensity IX
1,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1923M6.2
Ipiales
14 Dec 1923 · 263 km away · intensity IX
300 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1924M6.9
Ecuador
3 Mar 1924 · 278 km away
40 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.