Portoviejo

Earthquakes near Portoviejo through history

From 1900 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 17 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more within 100 km of Portoviejo, or 200 km for magnitude 7 and above. 4 of them reached magnitude 7 or more; the strongest on either list was a magnitude 7.9, twice: on September 28, 1906 and on May 14, 1942 (Guayaquil).

Open the live map

The last 30 days · as of

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

Live
Open the live map

What the record holds

The deadliest was not the strongest: an estimated magnitude 7.7 on June 20, 1698 (Tungurahua,Cotopaxi,Chimborazo), for which NOAA records 6,500 deaths. NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes has 9 here, back to 1674. NOAA records deaths in 4 of the events here, 7,366 in all. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 7.8 on April 16, 2016 (27 km SSE of Muisne, Ecuador). NOAA’s record here begins on August 29, 1674 with an earthquake (Chimborazo,Bolivar,Quito). It grows thinner going back: 5 of the 9 significant earthquakes NOAA lists here are from 1927 on.

The events

  • April 16, 2016Earthquake · M 7.827 km SSE of Muisne, Ecuador · 663 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • May 14, 1942Earthquake · M 7.9Guayaquil · 200 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • September 28, 1906Earthquake · M 7.9NOAA NCEI
  • June 20, 1698Earthquake · M 7.7 (est.)Tungurahua,Cotopaxi,Chimborazo · 6,500 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • August 29, 1674Earthquake · M 7.7 (est.)Chimborazo,Bolivar,QuitoNOAA NCEI

Good to know

  • An event counts for Portoviejo 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

Other places nearby