Riobamba

Earthquakes near Riobamba, 1927–2026

From 1927 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 10 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more within 100 km of Riobamba, or 200 km for magnitude 7 and above. 4 of them reached magnitude 7 or more; the strongest was a magnitude 7.5 on February 22, 2019 (115 km ESE of Palora, 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 Riobamba in the last 30 days.

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What the record holds

The deadliest was not the strongest: a magnitude 6.5 on August 5, 1949 (22 km NE of Baños, Ecuador), for which NOAA records 6,000 deaths. 9 earthquakes here in these years are on NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes. NOAA records deaths in 12 of the events here, 6,067 in all. The ten years with the most magnitude 6+ earthquakes were 1987–1996, with 4 of the 10. NOAA lists one tsunami that began within 100 km of Riobamba. It reached 125 m, on October 13, 2000. NOAA lists 10 significant eruptions of 3 volcanoes within 100 km of Riobamba. The largest was Sangay on August 12, 1976, at 3 on the volcanic explosivity index. It killed 2 people by NOAA’s count.

The events

  • February 22, 2019Earthquake · M 7.5115 km ESE of Palora, Ecuador · one death (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • October 13, 2000Tsunami · 125 m highAltar VolcanoNOAA NCEI
  • August 12, 1976Eruption · VEI 3Sangay · 2 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • July 27, 1971Earthquake · M 7.498 km ESE of Sucúa, Ecuador · one death (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI
  • August 5, 1949Earthquake · M 6.522 km NE of Baños, Ecuador · 6,000 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia

Good to know

  • An event counts for Riobamba 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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