Reviewed by USGSEcuador44y ago
M6.6 earthquake 122 km SSE of Boca Suno, Ecuador
Thursday, November 18, 1982, 14:57:52 UTC · 1.719°S, 76.703°W
A magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck 122 km SSE of Boca Suno, Ecuador on Thursday, November 18, 1982, 14:57:52 UTC, at a depth of 195.0 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.4 on July 27, 1971.
- Magnitude
- 6.6
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 195 km
- Intermediate
- 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
120 kilotons of TNT
That is about 8 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 251 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
218 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the North Andes and South American plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
Depth: intermediate
195 km
Intermediate-depth earthquakes usually break inside a plate that is sinking into the mantle. Shaking spreads over a wide area but is gentler at the epicenter than a shallow quake of the same size.
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 100 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 100 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 55 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.498 km ESE of Sucúa, EcuadorJuly 27, 1971 · 146 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.737 km E of Palora, EcuadorMay 17, 1971 · 104 km W of this epicenter
- 6.655 km ENE of Macas, EcuadorMay 10, 1963 · 115 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.6119 km E of Macas, EcuadorJuly 28, 1961 · 73 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.558 km E of Puyo, EcuadorSeptember 17, 1965 · 91 km W of this epicenter
- 6.542 km SE of Cayambe, EcuadorMay 11, 1955 · 211 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.522 km NE of Baños, EcuadorAugust 5, 1949 · 186 km W of this epicenter
- 6.3128 km ESE of Palora, EcuadorJune 12, 1942 · 45 km SW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 20 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 117,052 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1868M7.7
Guayaquil,Ibarra; Colombia: San Pablo
16 Aug 1868 · 279 km away · intensity X
70,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1797M8.3
Riobamba, Quito, Cuzco; Peru; Colombia
4 Feb 1797 · 219 km away · intensity XI
40,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1949M6.5
Tungurahua
5 Aug 1949 · 186 km away
6,000 deaths$8 million damage
- 1757M7.0
Cotopaxi,Tungurahua, Latacunga
22 Feb 1757 · 230 km away · intensity IX
1,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1924M6.9
Ecuador
3 Mar 1924 · 211 km away
40 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)
- 1960
Ecuador
30 Jul 1960 · 256 km away
11 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.