Reviewed by USGS122y ago
M8.8 earthquake 1906 Ecuador-Colombia Earthquake
Wednesday, January 31, 1906, 15:36:10 UTC · 0.955°N, 79.369°W
A magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck 1906 Ecuador-Colombia Earthquake on Wednesday, January 31, 1906, 15:36:10 UTC, at a depth of 20.0 km (shallow). No earthquake of this size or larger appears within 300 km in the USGS catalog since 1900.
- Magnitude
- 8.8
- Great · mw
- Depth
- 20 km
- Shallow
- Felt reports
- 0
- Did You Feel It?
- Est. shaking
- VII
- Very strong (ShakeMap)
- PAGER alert
- None
- Not issued
- Tsunami
- No flag
- USGS feed
Outlined circle: this earthquakeColoured lines: estimated shaking intensity (USGS ShakeMap)
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
239 megatons of TNT
That is about 15,873 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 501,187 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
119 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Nazca and North Andes plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
Depth: shallow
20 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 400 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 400 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists no earlier M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km.
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 13 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 112,000 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1868M7.7
Guayaquil,Ibarra; Colombia: San Pablo
16 Aug 1868 · 150 km away · intensity X
70,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1797M8.3
Riobamba, Quito, Cuzco; Peru; Colombia
4 Feb 1797 · 299 km away · intensity XI
40,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1906M8.8
Off Coast
31 Jan 1906 · 0 km away · intensity IX
1,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1757M7.0
Cotopaxi,Tungurahua, Latacunga
22 Feb 1757 · 223 km away · intensity IX
1,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1868M8.0
El Angel, Concepcion
15 Aug 1868 · 184 km away · intensity VIII
Severe damage ($5–24M)
- 1755M7.0
Pichincha, Quito
26 Apr 1755 · 161 km away · intensity IX
Severe damage ($5–24M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.