1906 Ecuador–Colombia earthquake
| Date | January 31, 1906 |
|---|---|
| Origin time | 15:36 UTC |
| Magnitude | 8.8 Mw |
| Epicenter | 1°00′N 81°30′W / 1.0°N 81.5°WCoordinates: 1°00′N 81°30′W / 1.0°N 81.5°W |
| Areas affected | Ecuador, Colombia |
| Tsunami | 5 m (16 ft) |
| Casualties | ~1,000 |
The 1906 Ecuador–Colombia earthquake occurred at 15:36 UTC on January 31, off the coast of Ecuador, near Esmeraldas. The earthquake had a moment magnitude of 8.8 and triggered a destructive tsunami that caused at least 500 casualties on the coast of Colombia.
The earthquake occurred along the boundary between the Nazca Plate and the South American Plate. The earthquake is likely to be a result of thrust-faulting, caused by the subduction of the Nazca plate beneath the South American plate. The coastal parts of Ecuador and Colombia have a history of great megathrust earthquakes originating from this plate boundary.
The greatest damage from the tsunami occurred on the coast between Río Verde, Ecuador and Micay, Colombia. Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the tsunami vary between 500 and 1,500.
The rupture zone for this earthquake was 500–600 km (310–370 mi) long, and encompassed those for the earthquakes of 1942 (Mw=7.8), 1958 (Mw=7.7) and 1979 (Mw=8.2). The lack of overlap between the three more recent events suggest the presence of minor barriers to rupture propagation along the plate boundary. Although these three events ruptured the same area of the plate boundary overall, they released only a small fraction of the energy of the 1906 earthquake.
The maximum recorded run-up height was 5 m (16 ft) in Tumaco, Colombia. At Hilo, Hawaii a 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in) run-up height was recorded for this event. The tsunami was also noted in Costa Rica, Panama, Mexico, California and Japan.
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