Esmeraldas

Earthquakes near Esmeraldas, 1927–2026

From 1927 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 27 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more within 100 km of Esmeraldas, or 200 km for magnitude 7 and above. 6 of them reached magnitude 7 or more; the strongest was a magnitude 7.8, twice: on May 14, 1942 (12 km SE of Pedernales, Ecuador) and on April 16, 2016 (27 km SSE of Muisne, Ecuador).

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The last 30 days · as of

USGS recorded no earthquake of magnitude 4.5 or more within 100 km of Esmeraldas in the last 30 days.

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What the record holds

The one on April 16, 2016 was the deadliest: NOAA records 663 deaths for it. 12 earthquakes here in these years are on NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes. NOAA records deaths in 8 of the events here, 1,396 in all. The ten years with the most magnitude 6+ earthquakes were 1937–1946, with 7 of the 27. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 6.3 on April 25, 2025 (19 km NE of Esmeraldas, Ecuador). NOAA lists 4 tsunamis that began within 100 km of Esmeraldas. The highest of them reached 6 m, on December 12, 1979. The deadliest, on January 19, 1958, killed 4 people here by NOAA’s runup records.

The events

  • April 25, 2025Earthquake · M 6.319 km NE of Esmeraldas, EcuadorUSGS · NOAA NCEI
  • April 16, 2016Earthquake · M 7.827 km SSE of Muisne, Ecuador · 663 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • December 12, 1979Tsunami · 6 m highOff Shore, Pacific OceanNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • January 19, 1958TsunamiColombia-Ecuador · 4 deaths here (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • May 14, 1942Earthquake · M 7.812 km SE of Pedernales, EcuadorUSGS

Good to know

  • An event counts for Esmeraldas when it began within 100 km of its centre, or 200 km for an earthquake of magnitude 7 or more. Damage can reach further.
  • USGS counts here start at magnitude 6: the catalogue’s smaller quakes thin out going back, where few instruments listened.
  • NOAA lists significant events only: earthquakes that killed, did about $1 million of damage, reached magnitude 7.5 or intensity X, or raised a tsunami, and eruptions and tsunamis by like measures. Magnitudes before 1900 are its estimates from written accounts.
  • Deaths are NOAA’s total for each event, wherever people died, its tsunami and fires included. A tsunami counts the dead its runup records give for this place: NOAA’s total for a tsunami includes its source quake’s.
  • A tsunami from elsewhere counts where one of its runups killed or rose a metre or more.
  • Counted to October 19, 2026, as is the map. The last 30 days ask USGS again.

How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Earthquakes, live, The world through history

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