M4.9 earthquake 55 km SE of Sucúa, Ecuador

Friday, October 20, 1995, 20:18:56 UTC · 2.819°S, 77.822°W

A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck 55 km SE of Sucúa, Ecuador on Friday, October 20, 1995, 20:18:56 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.4 on October 8, 1995.

Magnitude: 4.9; Light · mb
Depth: 33 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 earthquakeDashed circle: 50 km aftershock search area

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

338 tons of TNT

That is about 1/45 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 1 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

154 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: shallow

33 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 50 km

USGS lists 6 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.1 on November 14, 1995. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 144 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 22 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 47,074 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1797M8.3
Riobamba, Quito, Cuzco; Peru; Colombia
4 Feb 1797 · 161 km away · intensity XI
40,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
1949M6.5
Tungurahua
5 Aug 1949 · 184 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 · 161 km away
40 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)
1960
Ecuador
30 Jul 1960 · 197 km away
11 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)
1983M6.5
Chimbote
12 Apr 1983 · 227 km away
10 deathsUnder $1 million damage

NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.

Nearby trackers