2023 Guayas earthquake

A strong earthquake struck southern Ecuador on 18 March 2023.[1] It measured 6.8 on the moment magnitude scale, and struck with a hypocenter 65.8 km (40.9 mi) deep.[1] The epicenter was located in the Gulf of Guayaquil, just off the coast of the canton of Balao and some 80 kilometres (50 mi) south of the city of Guayaquil.[2] It caused major damage, with 446 injuries and 16 fatalities[3] in the provinces of El Oro, Azuay and Guayas,[4] while two additional fatalities and dozens of injuries were reported in Peru.[5]

2023 Guayas earthquake
2023 Guayas earthquake is located in Ecuador
2023 Guayas earthquake
UTC time2023-03-18 17:12:52
ISC event625890953
USGS-ANSSComCat
Local date18 March 2023 (2023-03-18)
Local time12:12 ECT (UTC-5)
Magnitude6.8 Mw
Depth65.8 km (40.9 mi)
Epicenter2.851°S 79.800°W / -2.851; -79.800
TypeOblique-slip
Areas affectedEcuador and Peru
Max. intensityVI (Slightly damaging)
Casualties18 dead, 495 injured[lower-alpha 1]

Tectonic setting

The active tectonics of Ecuador is dominated by the effects of the subduction of the Nazca Plate beneath the South American Plate. Ecuador lies within the Northern Volcanic Zone where the subduction zone is moving at a rate of 7 cm/yr to the east-northeast, significantly oblique to the trend of this segment of the Andes. The subduction zone has an overall dip of 25–30°, but varies rapidly along strike due to the effects of subduction of the Carnegie Ridge. The Carnegie Ridge is an oceanic plateau that formed as the Nazca Plate passed over the Galapagos hotspot. The plate interface above the subducted part of the ridge has a shallower dip than the area to both north and south, the boundaries interpreted to consist of two large tears in the downgoing Nazca Plate.[6] The northern part of Ecuador overlies the subducted part of the Carnegie Ridge and is an area where the Nazca Plate is interpreted to be strongly coupled to the South American Plate, causing an unusually large degree of intraplate deformation. The main active fault zones of Ecuador are SSW-NNE trending dextral strike-slip faults running parallel to the main subdivisions of the Andes, two major SW-NE dextral strike-slip zones, the Pallatanga and Chingual faults, and north–south trending reverse faults such as the Quito fault.[7] Large earthquakes are common in Ecuador. In the past century, 32 earthquakes M6.0 and larger have occurred within 250 km of this event.[1] On 16 April 2016, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake on the subduction zone interface ~350 km north of the 2023 event resulted in over 600 deaths and over 27,000 injuries.

Earthquake

The earthquake had a magnitude of Mw 6.8 and maximum MMI of VII (Very strong), estimated by the United States Geological Survey.[1] The European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre reported a magnitude of Mw 6.7.[8] According to PAGER, a service operated by the USGS, damaging shaking of intensities V–VII (Moderate–Very Strong) were felt by 8.41 million people, nearly half of Ecuador's population, including intensity VI (Strong) in Guayaquil.[1] It was felt in 13 of the country's 24 provinces.[9] The country's Geophysical Institute of the National Polytechnic School reported the EMS-98 intensity was V–VI (Strong–Slightly damaging) in southern Guayas Province. Intensity V–VI was also observed in Machala, Santa Rosa and Huaquillas.[10]

The earthquake occurred as the result of oblique-slip faulting at an intermediate depth near the subduction interface of the Nazca and South American plates. Its faulting mechanism and depth suggest the event occurred within the subducted lithosphere of the Nazca Plate. Focal mechanism solutions indicate that rupture occurred on either a near vertically dipping fault striking to the southeast or a moderately dipping fault striking to the southwest. At the location of the earthquake, the Nazca plate moves to the east relative to the South American plate at a velocity of about 73 mm (2.9 in) per year. Earthquakes in Ecuador and most of western South America are caused by the strains generated by ongoing subduction.[1]

Events such as this are called intermediate-depth earthquakes, occurring at 70–300 km (43–186 mi) depth. Intermediate-depth earthquakes represent deformation within subducted slabs rather than at the shallow plate interface between subducting and overriding tectonic plates. Typically less damaging on the ground surface above their epicenter than is the case with similar-magnitude shallow-focus earthquakes, but can still be destructive. Large intermediate-depth earthquakes may be felt at large distances from their epicenters.[1]

Impact

Ecuador

The quake was felt in 13 of the country's 24 provinces.[11] A total of 96 houses collapsed and 318 houses, 148 schools, 55 health facilities, 54 public infrastructure, 56 private infrastructure, and one bridge were damaged.[12][13] At least 494 people were injured across the country.[12]

El Oro

In El Oro, 40 houses collapsed[12] and 12 people – including an infant and five members of a single family – were killed, mostly in the city of Machala.[14][15] Three people died when a tower collapsed.[16] In Puerto Bolívar, a building housing a museum and a restaurant collapsed into the sea.[14] Collapsed buildings in the province trapped many people.[17] One Peruvian resident was among the dead in the province.[18] In the southern parts of some places in the province, telephone lines were downed and power outages occurred.[19]

Guayas

In Guayaquil, 6 buildings collapsed and 73 buildings and houses were damaged, glass was broken, some walls collapsed, and stores were closed across the city.[20][21] Power outages affected the city, with the northern and southern sectors had no electricity for as long as seven hours, while in some other areas, electricity was restored after 30 minutes.[22] Three vehicle tunnels in the city were also closed,[23] and one person was injured.[24] One person died in Naranjal.[25] On Puná Island, one of the closest areas to the epicenter, 10 houses collapsed.[26]

Azuay

Two people died in Cuenca, the provincial capital, including one person killed when a house façade collapsed onto a car;[14] another two were injured.[17][23] Two houses were destroyed and another four were damaged in the province.[12]

Peru
Peruvian authorities in Tumbes to record the damage from the earthquake.

In Tumbes, close to Peru's border with Ecuador, a four-year-old girl was killed when the roof of a house fell,[27][28] while a teenager was killed after a house collapsed.[5] Another child was injured,[29] and some others due to landslides.[30] Six houses collapsed, and 46 houses, two health facilities and 12 schools were damaged in the region's three provinces. Thirty-nine people were left homeless and another 101 were affected.[31]

Response

The Ecuadorian Secretariat for Risk Management said firefighters were deployed in search and rescue operations. The National Police conducted damage assessments.[32] President Guillermo Lasso urged citizens to remain calm, adding that "Emergency teams are mobilising to offer all their support to those who have been affected."[33] Toppled power lines interrupting communication and electricity services hampered rescue work.[34] Three facilities of Petroecuador suspended operations temporarily.[35]

Ecuador's president, Guillermo Lasso, visited the affected provinces on 19 March. He said the number of deaths and injuries could rise over the next few hours. Emergency funds for health and housing were opened, and a 60-day state of emergency was declared for the 14 provinces affected by the earthquake.[13] The Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador initiated an aid campaign for those affected.[36]

In March of 2023, Blanca Sacancela failed to get a debate at the National Assembly regarding her proposal that the assembly's members should give 50% of their salaries to the victims of the recent earthquake.[37]

See also

Notes
  1. 16 dead and 494 injured in Ecuador, 2 dead and one injured in Peru.

References
  1. National Earthquake Information Center (18 March 2023). "M 6.8 – 10 km NNW of Baláo, Ecuador". United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  2. "Southern Ecuador earthquake kills at least 12". BBC News. 18 March 2023.
  3. "Fuerte temblor en Ecuador deja al menos 16 muertos". abc.es (in Spanish). 19 March 2023. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  4. "Fuerte temblor en Ecuador deja al menos 16 muertos". abc.es (in Spanish). 19 March 2023. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  5. Adam Durbin; Samuel Horti (19 March 2023). "Ecuador earthquake kills at least 15 people". BBC News. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  6. Gutscher, M.-A.; Malavieille, J.; Lallemand, S.; Collot, J.-Y. (1999). "Tectonic segmentation of the North Andean margin: impact of the Carnegie Ridge collision" (PDF). Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 168 (3–4): 255–270. Bibcode:1999E&PSL.168..255G. doi:10.1016/S0012-821X(99)00060-6. Retrieved 24 August 2010.
  7. Eguez, A.; Alvarado A.; Yepes H.; Machette M.N.; Costa C.; Dart R.L. "Database and Map of Quaternary faults and folds of Ecuador and its offshore regions" (PDF). USGS Open-File Report 03-289. pp. 2–3. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
  8. "M 6.7 - NEAR COAST OF ECUADOR - 2023-03-18 17:12:55 UTC". European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre. 18 March 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  9. "Un terremoto de magnitud 6,5 deja al menos 14 muertos en Ecuador". El País. 18 March 2023. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  10. Hernández S, Ortiz M; Segovia M, Barros J; Viracucha, Vaca S (18 March 2023). "Informe Sísmico Especial No. 2023-003" [Special Seismic Report No. 2023-003]. Instituto Geofísico (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 September 2023.
  11. "At least 12 dead after 6.5-magnitude earthquake strikes off coast of Ecuador". ABC News. 18 March 2023.
  12. "SitRep no. 12 - Sismo Balao, Guayas" (PDF). www.gestionderiesgos.gob.ec (in Spanish). 22 March 2023. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  13. "Presidente de Ecuador autoriza ayuda para afectados por sismo" [President of Ecuador authorizes aid for those affected by the earthquake]. Prensa Latina. 21 March 2023. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  14. "Strong earthquake hits Ecuador, at least 6 killed". BNO News. 18 March 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  15. "Temblor dejó dolor, daños y caos en ciudades orenses y en la capital morlaca" (in Spanish). Extra.ec. 19 March 2023. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  16. "Un fuerte sismo en Ecuador de magnitud 7 se sintió también en Perú: al menos 13 muertos" (in Spanish). Clarín. 18 March 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  17. "13 fallecidos y 126 heridos por fuerte terremoto en Ecuador" [13 dead and 126 injured by strong earthquake in Ecuador] (in Spanish). El Comercio. 18 March 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  18. "Terremoto en Ecuador y Tumbes EN VIVO: reporte de heridos, fallecidos y últimas noticias de hoy". El Comercio (in Spanish). 20 March 2023. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
  19. "Un terratrèmol de 6,8 a l'Equador causa almenys 14 morts, 400 ferits i nombroses destrosses" (in Catalan). Corporació Catalana de Mitjans Audiovisuals. 19 March 2023. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  20. "Un sismo de magnitud 6,8 sacudió el sur de Ecuador: al menos 14 muertos" (in Spanish). Infobae. 18 March 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  21. "Seis viviendas colapsadas y 73 inmuebles con daños arquitectónicos: estragos del sismo de magnitud 6,6 en el Guayaquil urbano y rural" (in Spanish). El Universo. 21 March 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  22. "Servicio eléctrico aún no se restablece en sectores del norte y sur de Guayaquil" (in Spanish). El Universo. 22 March 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  23. "At least 15 dead after strong earthquake hits Ecuador and northern Peru". Associated Press. The Guardian. 18 March 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  24. "Sismo en Guayaquil: registran 46 colapsos y un herido leve" (in Spanish). Expreso. 18 March 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  25. "Temblor de magnitud 6.5 en Guayas, Ecuador: 3 fallecidos y 1 herido" (in Spanish). Semana. 18 March 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  26. "Sismo: alerta de 10 casas colapsadas en la isla Puná". expreso.ec (in Spanish). 18 March 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  27. "Al menos 13 muertos tras un terremoto de magnitud 6,5 en la zona costera de Ecuador". RTVE (in Spanish). 18 March 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  28. "Sismo en Tumbes EN VIVO: Terremoto de 7 grados alertó a los pobladores de Zarumilla y el epicentro fue en Ecuador". Infobae (in Spanish). 18 March 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  29. "MOVIMIENTO SÍSMICO DE MAGNITUD 6.7 REFERENCIA EN EL DISTRITO DE ZARUMILLA - TUMBES" (PDF). portal.indeci.gob.pe (in Spanish). 19 March 2023. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
  30. "Sismo de Ecuador causó pánico, heridos y daños en norte peruano". Trabajadores (in Spanish). 18 March 2023. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  31. "MOVIMIENTO SÍSMICO DE MAGNITUD 6.7 REFERENCIA EN EL DISTRITO DE ZARUMILLA - TUMBES" (PDF). portal.indeci.gob.pe (in Spanish). 21 March 2023. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  32. Solano, Gonzalo (18 March 2023). "Ecuador earthquake kills at least 12, causes wide damage". Associated Press. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  33. Durbin, Adam (18 March 2023). "Southern Ecuador earthquake kills at least 12". BBC News. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  34. "Ecuador Earthquake Kills 12, Causes Widespread Damage". Voice of America. Associated Press. 18 March 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  35. "Terremoto en Ecuador: al menos 13 muertos y más de 100 heridos por un fuerte sismo de magnitud 6,8" (in Spanish). BBC News. 18 March 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  36. "Presidente de Ecuador recorrió provincias afectadas por sismo" [President of Ecuador toured provinces affected by earthquake]. Prensa Latina. 19 March 2023. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  37. Telégrafo, El (22 March 2023). "Los asambleístas no dieron paso al debate para donar el 50% de su sueldo a damnificados por terremoto". El Telégrafo (in European Spanish). Retrieved 4 April 2023.
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