1797 Riobamba Earthquake
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1797 Riobamba Earthquake
The 1797 Riobamba earthquake occurred at 12:30 UTC on 4 February. It devastated the city of Riobamba and many other cities in the Interandean valley, causing between 6,000–40,000 casualties. It is estimated that seismic intensities in the epicentral area reached at least XI (''Extreme'') on the Mercalli intensity scale, and that the earthquake had a magnitude of 7.6–8.3, the most powerful historical event known in Ecuador. The earthquake was studied by Prussian geographer Alexander von Humboldt, when he visited the area in 1801–1802. Tectonic setting The active tectonics of Ecuador is dominated by the effects of the subduction of the Nazca Plate beneath the South American Plate. The main NNE-SSW trending fault systems show a mixture of dextral (right lateral) strike-slip faulting and reverse faulting. In addition to these faults that run parallel to the Andes in Ecuador, there are two important SW-NE trending-dextral-fault systems: the Pallatanga fault and the Chingual f ...
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Riobamba
Riobamba (, full name San Pedro de Riobamba; Quechua: ''Rispampa'') is the capital of Chimborazo Province in central Ecuador, and is located in the Chambo River Valley of the Andes. It is south of Ecuador's capital Quito and located at an elevation of 2,754 m. The city is an important regional transport center and a stop on the Pan-American Highway, which runs through Ecuador. Riobamba is one of the largest cities in the central portion of Ecuador's Sierra region. Name Riobamba takes its name from a combination of ''rio'', the Spanish word for "river", and ''rispampa'', the Quechua word for "plain." History The region surrounding Riobamba was inhabited by the Puruhá nation before the advance of the Inca Empire during the late 15th century. The Puruha fiercely resisted the Inca efforts to conquer the north of today's Ecuador. The Inca Huayna Capac had to make an alliance in order to pacify the tribes who sided with Condorazo, the general of the Puruha nation. He allied ...
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Ambato, Ecuador
Ambato (; full form, San Juan de Ambato; Quechuan languages, Quechua: Ampatu Llaqta) is a city located in the central Andes, Andean valley of Ecuador. Lying on the banks of the Ambato River (Ecuador), Ambato River, the city also sits beneath several tall mountains. It is the Tungurahua province capital city Tungurahua Province, Tungurahua, at an elevation of 2,577 meters above sea level. It is variously nicknamed "City of Flowers and Fruits", "Land of the Three Juan's", and "Garden of Ecuador." Ambato's inhabitants are called Ambateños or Guaytambos (after a type of native peach that the valley is famous for producing). The current mayor of Ambato is Javier Altamirano. The city has been fully or partially destroyed by earthquakes several times in its history, most recently on 1949 Ambato earthquake, 5 August 1949, when the city and its cathedral were almost completely devastated. The city was rebuilt in the following two years. In honour of the tenacity of their residents, Ambat ...
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Earthquakes In Ecuador
This list of earthquakes in Ecuador is a list of notable earthquakes that have affected Ecuador in recorded history. 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. The northern part of Ecuador overlies the subducted part of the Carnegie Ridg ...
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List Of Historical Earthquakes
Historical earthquakes is a list of significant earthquakes known to have occurred prior to the beginning of the 20th century. As the events listed here occurred before routine Seismometer, instrumental recordings, they rely mainly on the analysis of written sources. There is often significant uncertainty in location and magnitude and sometimes date for each earthquake. The number of fatalities is also often highly uncertain, particularly for the older events. Pre-11th century 11th–18th centuries 19th century Source for all events with 'USGS' labelled as the source United States Geological Survey (USGS''Note: Magnitudes are generally estimations from intensity data. When no magnitude was available, the Mercalli intensity scale, maximum intensity, written as a Roman numeral from I to XII, is given.'' See also * :Articles on pre-1900 earthquakes * List of 20th-century earthquakes * List of 21st-century earthquakes * List of tsunamis * Lists of earthquakes * List of megath ...
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List Of Earthquakes In Ecuador
This list of earthquakes in Ecuador is a list of notable earthquakes that have affected Ecuador in recorded history. 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. The northern part of Ecuador overlies the subducted part of the Carnegie Ri ...
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Cajabamba, Ecuador
Cajabamba (Villa la Unión) is a location in the Chimborazo Province, Ecuador. It is the seat of the Colta Canton. The village of Cajabamba (Kichwa: Kashapampa, "thorn plain") is situated in a fertile arable valley in Colta Canton, Chimborazo Province (Chimborazo = "snows on the other side"). It is unknown when the valley was first inhabited but it is known to have been settled in pre-Incan times as the city of Liribamba, the capital of the ancient Puruhá people. As the Incan empire expanded, the region became an area of conquest and was fully under the control of the Inca by the time of Wayna Qhapaq. After the capture and subsequent murder of his son and successor Atahualpa in Cajamarca, resistance to the ''conquista'' centered on the Incan general Rumiñawi, who withdrew his troops to the region. After a drawn-out series of engagements with the ''conquistadors'', who allied with the Cañari (recently conquered Incan subjects), Rumiñawi, faced with the prospect of near-certai ...
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Earthquake Rupture
In seismology, an earthquake rupture is the extent of slip that occurs during an earthquake in the Earth's crust. Earthquakes occur for many reasons that include: landslides, movement of magma in a volcano, the formation of a new fault, or, most commonly of all, a slip on an existing fault. Nucleation A tectonic earthquake begins by an initial rupture at a point on the fault surface, a process known as nucleation. The scale of the nucleation zone is uncertain, with some evidence, such as the rupture dimensions of the smallest earthquakes, suggesting that it is smaller than 100 m while other evidence, such as a slow component revealed by low-frequency spectra of some earthquakes, suggest that it is larger. The possibility that the nucleation involves some sort of preparation process is supported by the observation that about 40% of earthquakes are preceded by foreshocks. However, some large earthquakes, such as the M8.6 1950 India - China earthquake., have no foreshocks and it re ...
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Seismic Intensity Scales
Seismic intensity scales categorize the intensity or severity of ground shaking (quaking) at a given location, such as resulting from an earthquake. They are distinguished from seismic magnitude scales, which measure the magnitude or overall strength of an earthquake, which may, or perhaps may not, cause perceptible shaking. Intensity scales are based on the observed effects of the shaking, such as the degree to which people or animals were alarmed, and the extent and severity of damage to different kinds of structures or natural features. The maximal intensity observed, and the extent of the area where shaking was felt (see isoseismal map, below), can be used to estimate the location and magnitude of the source earthquake; this is especially useful for historical earthquakes where there is no instrumental record. Ground shaking Ground shaking can be caused in various ways (volcanic tremors, avalanches, large explosions, etc.), but shaking intense enough to cause damage is usuall ...
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Moment Magnitude
The moment magnitude scale (MMS; denoted explicitly with or Mw, and generally implied with use of a single M for magnitude) is a measure of an earthquake's magnitude ("size" or strength) based on its seismic moment. It was defined in a 1979 paper by Thomas C. Hanks and Hiroo Kanamori. Similar to the local magnitude/Richter scale () defined by Charles Francis Richter in 1935, it uses a logarithmic scale; small earthquakes have approximately the same magnitudes on both scales. Despite the difference, news media often says "Richter scale" when referring to the moment magnitude scale. Moment magnitude () is considered the authoritative magnitude scale for ranking earthquakes by size. It is more directly related to the energy of an earthquake than other scales, and does not saturate—that is, it does not underestimate magnitudes as other scales do in certain conditions. It has become the standard scale used by seismological authorities like the U.S. Geological SurveyThe "USGS Eart ...
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Pastaza River
The Pastaza River ( es, Río Pastaza, formerly known as the SumataraEnock, Charles Reginald (1914) ''Ecuador: its ancient and modern history, topography and natural resources, industries and social development'' Charles Scribner's sons, New Yorkpages 177–178 ) is a large tributary to the Marañón River in the northwestern Amazon Basin of South America.Ziesler, R. and G.D. Ardizzone, G.D. (1979"Amazon System"''Las Aguas Continentales de America Latina / The Inland Waters of Latin America'' (COPESCAL Technical Paper No. 1) Fisheries and Aquaculture Department, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome, , in English and Spanish It has its headwaters in the Ecuadorian province of Cotapaxi, flowing off the northwestern slopes of the volcano Cotopaxi and known as the Patate River. The Patate flows south and in Tungurahua Province it is joined by the Chambo River just upstream from the town of Baños de Agua Santa just north of the volcano Mount Tungurahua ...
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Tungurahua
Tungurahua (; from Quichua ''tunguri'' (throat) and ''rahua'' (fire), "Throat of Fire")) is an active stratovolcano located in the Cordillera Oriental of Ecuador. The volcano gives its name to the province of Tungurahua. Volcanic activity restarted on August 19, 1999, and is ongoing , with several major eruptions since then, the last starting on 1 February 2014.https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/25/science/mount-tambora-volcano-eruption-1815.html?_r=0 A Volcanic Eruption That Reverberates 200 Years Later Etymology According to one theory the name ''Tungurahua'' is a combination of the Quichua ''tunguri'' (throat) and ''rahua'' (fire) meaning "Throat of Fire". According to another theory it is based on the Quichua ''uraua'' for crater. Tungurahua is also known as "The Black Giant", and in local indigenous mythology it is allegedly referred to as ''Mama Tungurahua'' ("Mother Tungurahua"). Geography and geology Location Tungurahua is located in the Cordillera Oriental of t ...
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Santiago De Quero
Santiago de Quero or simply Quero is a location in the Tungurahua Province, Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' .... It is the seat of the Quero Canton. References www.inec.gov.ecwww.ame.gov.ec External links {{Ecuador-geo-stub Populated places in Tungurahua Province ...
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