M7.

8 Coastal Ecuador Earthquake of 16 April 2016

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

Othe r
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Epicentral Region

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SOUTH AMERICA
PLATE

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250

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1,
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Seismic Hazard

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Kilom e te r
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7.
5-8.
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Ecuador

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M7.8 Coastal Ecuador Earthquake of 16 April 2016

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( 16 April 2016 23:58:37 UTC
0.371 N., 79.94 W.
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Depth!
(19.2 km
Mw = 7.8 (USGS)

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Guayaquil

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<50

50-150

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250-270

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Piura

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Dive r
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Epicentral Region

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Sub d uction

Peru

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Plate Boundaries
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>340

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Finite Fault Model

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0-69

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Slip (mm)

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Earthquake Depth (km)

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6.
5-7.
0

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5.
5-6.
5

7.
0-7.
5

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Pacific
Ocean
Earthquake Magnitude

85

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95

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Aftershocks

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EXPLANATION
Main Shock

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Colombia

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Ibague

Cali

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NAZCA
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Manizales

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Medellin

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58 mm/yr

PAGER

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Kilom e te r
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500

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Dis tr
ib ution of the a m plitud e a nd d ir
e ction of s lip fors ub fa ulte le m e nts of the fa ultr
uptur
e m od e la r
e d e te r
m ine d
fr
om the inve r
s ion of te le s e is m ic b od y wa ve for
m s a nd long pe r
iod s ur
fa ce wa ve s .Ar
r
ows ind ica te the a m plitud e
a nd d ir
e ction of s lip (
of the ha ng ing wa llwith r
e s pe ctto the footwa ll)
;the s lip is a ls o color
e d b y m a g nitud e .The
vie wof the r
uptur
e pla ne is fr
om a b ove .The s tr
ike of the fa ultr
uptur
e pla ne is 29a nd the d ip is 15ESE.The
d im e ns ions of the s ub fa ulte le m e nts a r
e 14km in the s tr
ike d ir
e ction a nd 10km in the d ip d ir
e ction.The r
uptur
e
s ur
fa ce is a ppr
oxim a te ly 70km a long s tr
ike a nd 20km a long d ownd ip.The s e is m ic m om e ntr
e le a s e b a s e d
upon this pla ne is 7.
1e +27d yne .
cm .

TECTON I
CSUMMARY
The Apr
il16,2016M 7.
8e a r
thqua ke ,offs hor
e of the we s tcoa s tof nor
the r
n Ecua d or
,occur
r
e d a s the r
e s ultof s ha llowthr
us tfa ulting on orne a rthe pla te b ound a r
y b e twe e n the N a z
ca a nd Pa cific pla te s .
Atthe
loca tion of the e a r
thqua ke ,the N a z
ca pla te s ub d ucts e a s twa r
d b e ne a th the South Am e r
ica pla te a ta ve locity of 61m m /
yr
.The loca tion a nd m e cha nis m of the e a r
thqua ke a r
e cons is te ntwith s lip on the pr
im a r
y pla te
b ound a r
y inte r
fa ce ,orm e g a thr
us t,b e twe e n the s e two m a jorpla te s .Sub d uction a long the Ecua d orTr
e nch to the we s tof Ecua d or
,a nd the Pe r
uChile Tr
e nch fur
the rs outh,ha s le d to upliftof the And e s m ounta in
r
a ng e a nd ha s pr
od uce d s om e of the la r
g e s te a r
thqua ke s in the wor
ld ,includ ing the la r
g e s te a r
thqua ke on r
e cor
d ,the 1960M 9.
5e a r
thqua ke in s outhe r
n Chile .
While com m only plotte d a s points on m a ps ,e a r
thqua ke s of this s iz
e ar
e m or
e a ppr
opr
ia te ly d e s cr
ib e d a s s lip ove ra la r
g e rfa ulta r
e a .Eve nts of the s iz
e of the Apr
il16,2016e a r
thqua ke a r
e typica lly a b out160x
60km
in s iz
e (
le ng th xwid th)
.
95

Seismic hazard is expressed as peak

ground acceleration (PGA) on firm
rock, in meters/sec, expected to be
exceeded in a 50-yr period with a
probability of 10 percent.

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Pe a k Gr
ound Acce le r
a tion in m /
s e c*
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2

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4

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8

1.
6

2.
4

3.
2

65
Kilom e te r
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4.
0

4.
8

Prepared in cooperation with the

Global Seismographic Network

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20 mm/yr

COCOS
PLATE

CARIBBEAN
PLATE

Dive r
g e nt

Caribbean
Sea

Tr
a ns for
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Sub d uction

Atlantic
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19 mm/yr

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EXPLANATION

Tectonic Setting

EARTHQUAKE SUMMARY MAP

250

500

1,
000

1,
500

Ecua d orha s a his tor

y of la r
g e s ub d uction z
one r
e la te d e a r
thqua ke s .Se ve n m a g nitud e 7org r
e a te re a r
thqua ke s ha ve occur
r
e d within 250km of this e ve nts ince 1900.On Ma y 14th,1942,a M 7.
8e a r
thqua ke
occur
r
e d 43km s outh of this Apr
il16th,2016e ve nt.On J
a nua r
y 31s t,1906a M 8.
3e a r
thqua ke (
r
e por
te d ly a s la r
g e a s M 8.
8in s om e s our
ce s )nucle a te d on the s ub d uction z
one inte r
fa ce 90km to the nor
the a s tof the
Apr
il2016e ve nt,a nd r
uptur
e d ove ra le ng th of a ppr
ox
im a te ly 400500km ,r
e s ulting in a d a m a g ing ts una m itha tca us e d in the r
e g ion of 5001,
500fa ta litie s .The Apr
il2016e a r
thqua ke is a tthe s outhe r
n e nd of the
a ppr
ox
im a te r
uptur
e ar
e a of the 1906e ve nt.
As ha llow,uppe rcr
us ta lM 7.
2e a r
thqua ke 240km e a s tof the Apr
il2016e ve nton Ma r
ch 6th,1987r
e s ulte d in a ppr
ox
im a te ly 1,
000fa ta litie s .

DATA SOURCES

REFERENCES

EARTHQUAKES AND SEISMIC HAZARD

USGS, National Earthquake Information Center
NOAA, National Geophysical Data Center
IASPEI, Centennial Catalog (1900 - 1999) and
extensions (Engdahl and Villaseor, 2002)
EHB catalog (Engdahl et al., 1998)
HDF (unpublished earthquake catalog, Engdahl, 2003)
Global Seismic Hazard Assessment Program
Volcanoes of the World (Siebert and Simkin, 2002)

Bird, P., 2003, An updated digital model of plate

boundaries: Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., v. 4,
no. 3, pp. 1027-80.

PLATE TECTONICS AND FAULT MODEL

PB2002 (Bird, 2003)
Ji, C., D.J. Wald, and D.V. Helmberger, Source description
of the 1999 Hector Mine, California earthquake; Part I: Wavelet
domain inversion theory and resolution analysis, Bull. Seism.
Soc. Am., Vol 92, No. 4. pp. 1192-1207, 2002.
DeMets, C., Gordon, R.G., Argus, D.F., 2010.
Geologically current plate motions, Geophys. J. Int. 181, 1-80.

Engdahl, E.R., Van der Hilst, R.D., and Buland, R.P.,

1998, Global teleseismic earthquake relocation with
improved travel times and procedures for depth
determination;Bull. Seism. Soc. Amer., v. 88, p. 722-743.

BASE MAP
NIMA and ESRI, Digital Chart of the World
USGS, EROS Data Center
NOAA GEBCO and GLOBE Elevation Models

Engdahl, E.R., and Villasenor, A., 2002, Global

Seismicity: 1900-1999, chap. 41 of Lee, W.H.K.,
and others, eds., International Earthquake and
Engineering Seismology, Part A: New York, N.Y.,
Elsevier Academic Press, 932 p.

DISCLAIMER
Base map data, such as place names and political
boundaries, are the best available but may not be
current or may contain inaccuracies and therefore
should not be regarded as having official signifiance.
Map updated by U.S. Geological Survey National
Earthquake Information Center
18 April 2016
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/
Map not approved for release by Director USGS