The 1998 Bahía de Caráquez earthquake occurred on August 4 at 13:59 local time (18:59 UTC) with a magnitude 7.2. The epicenter was located at 10 km north of
Bahía de Caráquez
Bahía de Caráquez, officially known as San Antonio de Caraquez and founded under the name of Villa de San Antonio de la Bahía de Caráquez or simply known today as Bahía, formerly called Bahía de los Caras during the period of the Spanish co ...
, about 190 km NNW of
Guayaquil
, motto = Por Guayaquil Independiente en, For Independent Guayaquil
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, pushpin_map = Ecuador#South America
, pushpin_re ...
, and about 215 km W of
Quito,
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: ' ...
. The intensity in Bahía de Caráquez reached MM VIII. In Bahía de Caráquez, electricity, telephone, and water services disrupted, and many buildings were damaged. It was felt strongly in Guayaquil and Quito and could be felt in much of Ecuador and in
Cali,
Colombia. An 5.4
foreshock
A foreshock is an earthquake that occurs before a larger seismic event (the mainshock) and is related to it in both time and space. The designation of an earthquake as ''foreshock'', ''mainshock'' or aftershock is only possible after the full se ...
occurred 1 hour and 24 minutes before the main shock and hence alerted many people. The
Nazca Plate is subducting beneath the
South American Plate near the Ecuadorian coast. This earthquake was a shallow thrust earthquake in this subduction zone.
Since March 1997,
Wawa Pichincha, 12 km to the west of Quito, began a period of unrest. Since May 1998, a seismic swarm occurred at Wawa Pichincha. Three days after the Bahía de Caráquez earthquake, on August 7, 1998, a moderate
phreatic eruption occurred in Wawa Pichincha. Wawa Pichincha remained active in 1999, and in 2000 its activities became more moderate.
See also
*
List of earthquakes in Ecuador
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:1998 Bahia de Caraquez earthquake
Bahia De Caraquez Earthquake, 1998
Bahia De Caraquez Earthquake, 1998
Earthquakes in Ecuador
1998 disasters in Ecuador