Seismic Event Dossier•21:13 Local (02:13 UTC)(agora mesmo)

M 7.8 earthquake
Esmeraldas, Ecuador

A magnitude 7.8 (MW) earthquake occurred on 1942-05-14, 21:13 local time (02:13 UTC) (agora mesmo), centered 111 km S of Esmeraldas (Ecuador). The hypocenter was located at a shallow depth of 20 km. Primary telemetry verified by USGS.

Historical Landmark Earthquake

#77 of All Time

Curated Global Seismic Archive (1700–Present)

Top-100 Earthquakes

A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck ⁨Esmeraldas, Ecuador⁩ on 14 de maio de 1942. Source: ⁨Peru–Chile Trench⁩. Documented deaths: 200.

Documented Fatalities200Source: NOAA NCEI Significant Earthquake Database

Fault KinematicsSubduction Megathrust

Equivalent Energy7.56 Mt TNT

Magnitude

M 7.8

7.56 Mt TNT

Profundidade

20 km

shallow (Crosta superficial)

Impacto PAGER

red

> 1,000 fatalities

Feridos: > 5,000 · ~39.4M sentido

Mapa interativo do epicentro e das falhas

0.01°S, 79.98°W

Falha2.2 km

Fossa Peru-Chile

Subduction Megathrust · ~15.0 mm/yr

Felt byMMI III+

~39.4M exposed

~7.8M strong shaking

Primary SolutionUSGS

USGS#iscgem900274reviewed

1 agencies reporting

Setting0.0°S

Ecuador

Continental / Inland crustal

Seismic Activity & Aftershock Sequence

Timeline of foreshocks, main rupture, aftershocks and machine learning risk probability evolution.

Hover or tap a point to inspect aftershocks and risk probability curve.

<35 km (superficial)35–70 km (intermédio)>70 km (profundo)Sismo principal

Situation Monitoring

Continuous verification

Multi-agency verification of casualties, tsunami alerts, and seismic sequence

Key facts so far

Casualties

Damage assessment in progress

Tsunami Status

No tsunami threat

NOAA PTWC & regional buoys

Citizen Felt Reports

No felt reports submitted

Macroseismic DYFI verification

Aftershock Sequence

Monitoring

Aftershocks expected (Omori law)

LightGBM hazard model forecast

Multi-agency seismic telemetry active. Awaiting wire headlines.

Agency Discrepancy Matrix (Cross-Network Verification)

Comparing multi-network solutions from primary and teleseismic monitoring agencies.

Network / Source	Magnitude (Scale & Diff)	Depth & Diff	Epicenter & Shift (Δd)	Consensus	Event ID / Data
USGS United States Geological Survey · Global / US	M7.8(Mw)Ref	20.0 kmRef	-0.01°, -79.98°Origin	Authoritative	iscgem900274

Why do agency magnitudes differ? Seismological agencies use different instrumentation networks, crustal velocity models, and mathematical magnitude scales (e.g. Moment Magnitude Mw vs Local Richter ML vs Surface Wave Ms). Differences of 0.1–0.3 are common and reflect physical observation geometry rather than errors.

Where it was felt

6 localidades

Shaking intensity is modelled from magnitude, depth and distance (GMPE attenuation), not reported by residents.

Town	Distance	Intensity	População
Chone · Manabi	76 km	MMI VIII	44,751
Esmeraldas · Esmeraldas	111 km	MMI VIII	173,101
Portoviejo · Manabi	128 km	MMI VII	213,601
Manta · Manabi	136 km	MMI VII	183,166
Jipijapa · Manabi	163 km	MMI VII	35,901
Quito · Pichincha	166 km	MMI VII	1,701,000

Tectonic setting

Nearest mapped active fault: Peru–Chile Trench, 2.2 km away, slip rate ~15.0 mm/yr (GEM Global Active Faults).

M 7.8 earthquake Esmeraldas, Ecuador