Earthquakes in Ecuador, 1927–2026
From 1927 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 88 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more in or off Ecuador. 11 of them reached magnitude 7 or more; the strongest on either list was a magnitude 7.9 on May 14, 1942 (Guayaquil).
The last 30 days · as of
USGS recorded 3 earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or more in the area the map frames in the last 30 days.
The latest: magnitude 5.2 on October 16 (off the coast of Ecuador). The strongest: magnitude 5.4 on October 15 (off the coast of Ecuador).
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. 44 earthquakes here in these years are on NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes. NOAA records deaths in 33 of the events here, 12,708 in all. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 6.3 on April 25, 2025 (19 km NE of Esmeraldas, Ecuador). NOAA lists 7 tsunamis that began in or off Ecuador, and 3 from elsewhere that reached it with deaths or a metre of water or more. The highest water NOAA records here was 6.12 m, on March 11, 2011. The deadliest, on January 19, 1958, killed 4 people here by NOAA’s runup records. NOAA lists 14 significant eruptions of 6 volcanoes in or off Ecuador. The largest was Reventador on November 3, 2002, at 4 on the volcanic explosivity index. The deadliest was Altar on October 13, 2000, which killed 13 people by NOAA’s count.
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
- March 11, 2011Tsunami · 6.12 m hereHonshu IslandNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- November 3, 2002Eruption · VEI 4ReventadorNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- October 13, 2000EruptionAltar · 13 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI
- March 6, 1987Earthquake · M 7.229 km SSE of Pimampiro, Ecuador · 5,000 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- December 12, 1979Earthquake · M 7.756 km NW of Valdez, Ecuador · 600 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- January 19, 1958Earthquake · M 7.6near the coast of Ecuador · 115 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- January 19, 1958TsunamiColombia-Ecuador · 4 deaths here (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- August 5, 1949Earthquake · M 6.522 km NE of Baños, Ecuador · 6,000 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- May 14, 1942Earthquake · M 7.9Guayaquil · 200 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- May 14, 1942Earthquake · M 7.812 km SE of Pedernales, EcuadorUSGS
Good to know
- An event counts for Ecuador when it began inside its borders, or at sea within 100 km of its coast (so one can count for two neighbours), or further out, up to 300 km, where Ecuador is the nearest country.
- 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.
- The map frames the box around Ecuador, its neighbours’ quakes included, so its count runs higher than this page’s.
- 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