THE EXPLANATION OF THE EARTHQUAKE IN ECUADOR 2016

1. THE EARTHQUAKE IN
ECUADOR 2016

2. 2016ECUADOR
EARTHQUAKE
• The 2016 Ecuador earthquake occurred on April 16
at 18:58:37 ECT with a moment magnitude of 7.8 and a
maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). The very
large thrust earthqueake was centered approximately
27 km (17 mi) from the towns
of Musine and Pedernales in a sparsely populated part of
the country, and 170 km (110 mi) from the
capital Quito, where it was felt strongly. Regions
of Manta, Pedernales and Portoviejo accounted for over
75 percent of total casualties. Widespread damage was
caused across Manabi province, with structures
hundreds of kilometres from the epicenter collapsing. At
least 659 people were killed and 27,732 people injured.
President Rafael Correa declared a state of emergency;
13,500 military personnel and police officers were
dispatched for recovery operations.

3. TECTONIC SETTING
• Ecuador lies above the destructive plate
boundary where the Nazca
Plate is subducting beneath the South American
Plate. The convergence rate between the plates in
Ecuador is 61 millimetres (2.4 in) per year. The
depth, location and focal mechanism of the
earthquake are all consistent with rupture along the
plate interface in the form of a megathrust
earthquake. A major earthquake in 1906 ruptured
the plate interface for at least 400 km immediately
northeast of the 2016 event.

4. EARTHQUAKE
• At 18:58 ECT on April 16, a 7.8 Mw earthquake struck the coast
of Ecuador approximately 27 km (17 mi) south-southeast
of Muisne, in the province of Esmeraldas, at a depth of 19.2 km
(11.9 mi). This is the largest earthquake to strike Ecuador since
the 1979 Tumaco earthquake. According to Mayor Gabriel
Alcivar, much of the town of Pedernales, about 35 km to
the south-southwest of the earthquake's epicenter, was
leveled. In Guayaquil—approximately 300 km (190 mi) from the
epicenter—an overpass collapsed on a car, killing the driver.
was severely damaged;an Air Force officer was injured and the
airport closed.collapsed and many others lost power in the
nation's capital city of Quito. The earthquake was presaged by
a magnitude 4.8 foreshock eleven minutes before the main
quake struck, and followed by over fifty-five aftershocks in the
first twenty-four hours.

5. CASUALTIES
• At least 659 people were killed and more than 27,732
others were injured in the earthquake. It was the
worst natural disaster to hit Ecuador since the 1949
Ambato earthquake.Over 300 fatalities occurred in the
cities of Manta and Portoviejo, both of which are located
in Manabi province.President Rafael Correa stated that
the reconstruction would cost "billions of dollars.”The
number of fatalities was estimated as several hundred
within thirty minutes of the earthquake. By April 24, the
fatality count had reached 654, and 8,340 had been
reported as injured.In Colombia, near the city of Cali,
one miner died as a result of the earthquake, becoming
the only reported death outside of Ecuador.

6. PICTURES OF THE
EARTHQUAKE

7. •THANKS