Machala

Earthquakes near Machala through history

From 1900 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 4 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more within 100 km of Machala, or 200 km for magnitude 7 and above. The strongest on either list was a magnitude 7.9 on September 28, 1906.

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The last 30 days · as of

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

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What the record holds

The deadliest was not the strongest: a magnitude 7.2 on December 10, 1970 (9 km ENE of Papayal, Peru), for which NOAA records 82 deaths. NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes has 6 here, back to 1906. NOAA records deaths in 3 of the events here, 103 in all. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 6.8 on March 18, 2023 (14 km NNW of Baláo, Ecuador). NOAA’s record here begins on September 28, 1906 with an earthquake. 2 of the 6 significant earthquakes NOAA lists here came before 1927. NOAA lists one tsunami that began within 100 km of Machala. It reached 1 m, on December 12, 1953.

The events

  • March 18, 2023Earthquake · M 6.814 km NNW of Baláo, Ecuador · 15 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • December 10, 1970Earthquake · M 7.29 km ENE of Papayal, Peru · 82 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • December 12, 1953Tsunami · 1 m highN. PeruNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • February 24, 1913Earthquake · M 7.7Gonzanama, San Pedro, MolletureNOAA NCEI
  • September 28, 1906Earthquake · M 7.9NOAA NCEI

Good to know

  • An event counts for Machala 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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