Reviewed by USGSEcuador19y ago
M4.5 earthquake 46 km ENE of Palora, Ecuador
Monday, December 24, 2007, 14:27:02 UTC · 1.568°S, 77.567°W
A magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck 46 km ENE of Palora, Ecuador on Monday, December 24, 2007, 14:27:02 UTC, at a depth of 188.1 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.5 on December 3, 2007.
- Magnitude
- 4.5
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 188 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
85 tons of TNT
That is about 1/178 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 6 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
121 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
188 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 50 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 168 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 · 144 km S of this epicenter
- 7.229 km SSE of Pimampiro, EcuadorMarch 6, 1987 · 193 km N of this epicenter
- 7.045 km SE of Sucúa, EcuadorOctober 3, 1995 · 136 km S of this epicenter
- 6.8109 km W of Alianza Cristiana, PeruNovember 23, 1986 · 198 km S of this epicenter
- 6.830 km E of Macas, EcuadorNovember 16, 2007 · 88 km S of this epicenter
- 6.764 km WSW of Alianza Cristiana, PeruMay 2, 1995 · 258 km S of this epicenter
- 6.737 km E of Palora, EcuadorMay 17, 1971 · 11 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.655 km ENE of Macas, EcuadorMay 10, 1963 · 69 km S of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 32 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 122,653 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1868M7.7
Guayaquil,Ibarra; Colombia: San Pablo
16 Aug 1868 · 220 km away · intensity X
70,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1797M8.3
Riobamba, Quito, Cuzco; Peru; Colombia
4 Feb 1797 · 123 km away · intensity XI
40,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1949M6.5
Tungurahua
5 Aug 1949 · 90 km away
6,000 deaths$8 million damage
- 1987M7.2
Napo Province, Quito, Tulcan
6 Mar 1987 · 185 km away
5,000 deaths$1.5 billion damage
- 1757M7.0
Cotopaxi,Tungurahua, Latacunga
22 Feb 1757 · 137 km away · intensity IX
1,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1923M6.2
Ipiales
14 Dec 1923 · 272 km away · intensity IX
300 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.