M 7.8 near coast of Ecuador

[EMSC]

Magnitude M 7.5Region NEAR COAST OF ECUADORDate time 2016-04-16 23:58:36.2 UTCLocation 0.35 N ; 79.93 WDepth 10 km



More... (http://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=501158)

[Calz]

Quite a week.

Getting stronger and another at 10km.

Coincidence no doubt ...

[Hervé]

Where it happened:

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/at00o5r3xd#general

[Wind]

It's safe to say that it isn't over yet.

[Hervé]

http://projectavalon.net/Earthquake_16_April_2016.gif
Bill's somewhere in the south
He wondered who was shaking his chair...


Upgraded to a M 7.8

[wnlight]

We sure felt that one! Linda and I live in Cuenca, Ecuador, about 200 (?) miles from the epicenter. No visible damage here. The 5.3 quake in March was much closer and put cracks in our walls.

[Bill Ryan]

.
Well, I felt it where I am, and I'm 300 miles to the south. But my friends nearby here, who live on a rocky promontory outlook directly up the hill from me, said they 'thought their house was coming down'. (The ground there is harder, with much less natural springiness than down where I am on the soft, fertile valley floor.)

The Ring of Fire is definitely hotting up. I'm appreciating Bob's threads on Cotopaxi (http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?69130-CotoPaxi-Volcano-Ecuador-seismic-status) and Tungurahua (http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?68122-Ecuador-orange-alert-issued-in-areas-of-influence-of-Tungurahua-volcano) (two large Ecuador volcanoes that have been steadily showing signs of increasing activity). This is the largest Ecuador earthquake for over 50 years.


It's safe to say that it isn't over yet. Yes, you may be right.

[Hervé]

Neat app on this site to visualize seismic wave propagation (if your browser can handle it): http://ds.iris.edu/seismon/

or: http://ds.iris.edu/seismon/swaves/

[Hervé]

Quite a week.

Getting stronger and another at 10km.

Coincidence no doubt ...

One rule of thumb with these "10 Km" deep earthquakes is that the depth given right away are "default depth" used as place holder for later corrections/ fine tuning/interpretation of world data recorded and communicated...

The epicenter depth has been now corrected to 19.2 Km.

[Calz]

Quite a week.

Getting stronger and another at 10km.

Coincidence no doubt ...

One rule of thumb with these "10 Km" deep earthquakes is that the depth given right away are "default depth" used as place holder for later corrections/ fine tuning/interpretation of world data recorded and communicated...

The epicenter depth has been now corrected to 19.2 Km.


Ah ... thanks for that.

Say ... the strength has been bumped from 7.5 to 7.8.

Is it safe to assume that was a manual adjustment to correct to the latest data?






From Bill: Yes, I changed the number in the thread title. 7.8 (a big one!) seems to be what it was.

[Wind]

Analysis from Dutchsinse.

pv3A5oTyxc8

[KiwiElf]

It's safe to say that it isn't over yet.

I think you're right... what are the odds of this many major quakes in the last 72 hours,.. and what's coming? I think it's just STARTING! :(

[Calz]

As Carmody posted in the Yellowstone thread there are no major astrological alignments (which trigger the "big" stuff) so I wonder what is happening here.

Dramatic increase in sinkholes and asteroids/comets gives pause ...

[bluestflame]

found it interesting there was also one centred in the easter island region

actually several

absence of astrological alignments could point to other factors not considered

[Eric J (Viking)]

California next?

https://www.superstation95.com/index.php/world/1172

Viking

[KiwiElf]

California next?

https://www.superstation95.com/index.php/world/1172

Viking

Anywhere in the ring of fire areas me thinks - bigger ones all seem concentrated on the US/Sth America side atm (draw a line from Indonesia to Chile, strongest around the equatorial region above that (Japan - Equador) I'd be keeping an eye on Guatemala and Easter Island; the Alaskan ones are still relatively small and frequent but also increasing in Magnitude - just as I wrote this a 4.5 in Guatemala and another in Equador @ 5.6. Don't like this one bit! Hope you're OK, Bill

[KiwiElf]

Heading back to the West again (and we - NZ - could be in the firing line) 5.8M has just hit Tonga... Indonesia (or us) next maybe?

[greybeard]

The helplots are worth looking at.
The whole world is shaking at the moment.
Chris

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/monitoring/operations/heliplots_gsn.php

[Althena]

I have a feeling that we're next down here. On the Chilean side of Patagonia of course. I rather have an earthquake than volcanoes erupting any day, no more ash/sand please!!

P.S. CERN has started recommissioning with beam on the 13th of this month, maybe is just a coinicidence...


https://espace.cern.ch/be-dep/BEDepartmentalDocuments/BE/LHC_Schedule_2016.pdf

[ghostrider]

The Plejaren say, with all the drilling for oil and natural gas the earth suffers shifts from within, and slowly collapses in on herself... Increased volcanic activity and sea quakes will seem to become apocalyptic to us ... America will be a country of total devastation... I personally watch for the 9.0 sea quake they predicted off the coast of Oregon lasting five minutes...

[Hervé]

The helplots are worth looking at.
The whole world is shaking at the moment.
Chris

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/monitoring/operations/heliplots_gsn.php

Hi Chris,

All right, I'll try again explaining these heliplots as I tried long ago in the El Hierro thread: They record earth's tremblors for a period of 24 hours with one line per hour. There only need to be one line going off the charts (overamplification of the wave or instrument saturated) to produce a blackened chart.

Accordingly, since most seismographs are set to record and amplify minor tremblors, when a big one comes it obliterates the rest of the chart recordings (see this post (http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?16229-Live-Internet-Seismic-Server&p=174648&viewfull=1#post174648) <---). That doesn't mean the earth is still shaking, not at all. It shook, spilled the ink bottle on the chart making it unreadable and went to rest while the recording ink was drying...

See how it works with the animation on this site: http://ds.iris.edu/seismon/

[TeXaR]

I have a feeling that we're next down here. On the Chilean side of Patagonia of course. I rather have an earthquake than volcanoes erupting any day, no more ash/sand please!!

P.S. CERN has started recommissioning with beam on the 13th of this month, maybe is just a coinicidence...


https://espace.cern.ch/be-dep/BEDepartmentalDocuments/BE/LHC_Schedule_2016.pdf

Thanks Althena.

Well worth keeping an eye on.

http://home.cern/about/updates/2016/04/too-quiet-hear-particle-drop

Add.

Return of the LHC – season 2 continues

http://home.cern/about/updates/2016/03/return-lhc-season-2-continues

[Camilo]

Hope all the Avalonias that live in Ecuador are doing fine.

[Hervé]

Massive and deadly earthquake on the Northern coast of Ecuador - at least 233 people killed (http://earthquake-report.com/2016/04/17/massive-earthquake-near-coast-of-ecuador-on-april-16-2016/)

Last update: April 17, 2016 at 4:49 pm by By Armand Vervaeck (http://earthquake-report.com/author/armand-vervaeck/)


Update 15:58 UTC : A collapsed house in Manta, one of the areas with most damage


https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CgQU7J4WwAA4_4z.jpg

Important Update 15:10 UTC : The President of Ecuador has just reported that the number of fatalities increased to 233 !
Other parts in the tweet of the President:
Most affected city is Manta (suburb Tarqui)
Pedernales almost completely destroyed
The President will visit Portoviejo asap

Update 14:50 UTC : The security video below shows the shaking in Portoviejo

Update 14:23 UTC : An emotional Jorge Glas, Vice-President of Ecuador, paid a visit this morning to some severely hit locations along the coast.
Rafael Correa was in Rome at the time of the earthquake


https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CgPvH1wWIAECXiN.jpg

Update 12:47 UTC : The Ecuadorian government has called the State of Emergency in 6 provinces : Esmeraldas, Los Ríos, Manabí, Santa Elena, Guayas and Santo Domingo

Update 12:41 UTC : Twitter picture (link below the image) of a partly collapsed bridge in Manabi. This is no normal ground rupture but an elevated road who is giving entrance to the bridge who has partly collapsed.


http://earthquake-report.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Screen-Shot-2016-04-17-at-14.40.22.jpg


Update 12:26 UTC : RT Spanisg has withdrawn their 142 number of fatalities and shows again the official number of 77. Other Spanash sources crediting an International Rescue Organisation are still citing the number of 142.

Update 12:15 UTC : Image from hard hit Pedernales, a coastal city in Northern Ecuador


http://earthquake-report.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Screen-Shot-2016-04-17-at-14.14.53.jpg (https://twitter.com/AbgVanegas/status/721667544583639040)


Update 11:50 UTC : Daylight has started and the real extend of the damage will now show up. Since about 6 hours there are no new official numbers of the casualties. Our number of 142 comes from unofficial sources of RT Spanish citing internal sources.

[Bob]

There have been aftershocks, 3.1 and upwards, including 5.6's recorded in the network in Ecuador (and mirrored by the worldwide monitoring network).

example: Mw 5.6 NEAR COAST OF ECUADOR
2016-04-17 09:23:40 UTC

Mw 5.7 NEAR COAST OF ECUADOR
2016-04-17 07:13:59 UTC

mb 5.0 NEAR COAST OF ECUADOR
2016-04-17 02:18:00 UTC

mb 5.4 NEAR COAST OF ECUADOR
2016-04-17 00:29:33 UTC

Mw 7.8 NEAR COAST OF ECUADOR (main event)
2016-04-16 23:58:37 UTC

map: http://www.igepn.edu.ec/sismos

http://chanlo.com/images/ecuador-seismic-1.jpg

==Post Update (1600 hours East Coast time) ==

Authorities said there were 163 aftershocks, mainly in the Pedernales area.

A state of emergency was declared in six provinces.

Deaths currently reported at 235 souls, over 1500 injured.

"PEDERNALES (town) has been DESTROYED" (Reuters)

Pedernales, is a town of 40,000.

==Update 0100 am east coast time, 18 April 2016==

Death toll rises 272, over 2500 injured

http://correo.igepn.edu.ec/ - the area where the earthquake occurred yesterday and aftershocks match the earthquake of 1942.


President Jorge Glas said Sunday, :The number of casualties is expected to continue rising as authorities scour the region for a long list of missing people.."

Largest aftershock, m6.1

The quake registered on Saturday 16 April at 18h58 (local time), with amagnitude 7.8 (Mw moment magnitude).

Center was located in front of Pedernales (Manabí), 20 km deep.

The earthqake was a result of displacement between two tectonic plates: the Nazca plate (oceanic plate) that plunges under the South American (continental shelf).

This process known as subduction is the same phenomenon that caused the earthquakes of January 31, 1906 (Mw 8.8), which is the largest recorded in Ecuador and the 6th largest globally. The May 14, 1942 earthquake registered Mw 7.8. The January 19, 1958 earthquake registered Mw 7.8. The December 12, 1979 earthquake registered Mw 8.1.

[KiwiElf]

Yes, & tracking northward up into Panama; El Salvadore just had a 4.8 but relatively deep @ 73 km.

[Hervé]

Earthquake casualties modelling:


Update 19:50 UTC :
Fatality and damage numbers from a theoretical model of Dr. James Daniell (CEDIM, Karlsruhe, Germany).

The model used a combination of Ecuador and USGS intensities.

Death toll = 252 with lower range 65 and higher range 720 (still some uncertainty as it looks like the death toll may increase given the reported intensities)

In terms of costs = $820 million with a range from $200 million up to $1.8 billion... current death count at 413 and unfortunately, bound to climb higher.


Important Update April 19 06:18 UTC : Death toll has risen to 413


http://earthquake-report.com/2016/04/17/massive-earthquake-near-coast-of-ecuador-on-april-16-2016/

[Hervé]

Important Update (http://earthquake-report.com/2016/04/17/massive-earthquake-near-coast-of-ecuador-on-april-16-2016/) 11:03 UTC : New update following the local press - 525 fatalities, 4000+ injured and 237 people missing
11 foreigners are amongst the fatalities

http://earthquake-report.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Screen-Shot-2016-04-20-at-13.06.21.jpg

[Carmody]

As Carmody posted in the Yellowstone thread there are no major astrological alignments (which trigger the "big" stuff) so I wonder what is happening here.

Dramatic increase in sinkholes and asteroids/comets gives pause ...

I had to back and address this. I never quite said 'there are no alignments'. I was kinda neutral on that. I wasn't willing to take out the time and look, and figure it out, ie, spend an our or more doing so.

So, what I said, is that if one finds no alignments, then it means nothing. The unspoken second half was, 'if one finds alignments, then it means something.' I was neutral and non-committal, but there was the possibility of misinterpretation.

I had not done the legwork, but had left it open. I had mentioned the connections, in potential, if researched. Nothing more.

[Bob]

As of April 20, 2016 08h55 TL, the Geophysical Institute (http://www.igepn.edu.ec/servicios/noticias/1318-informe-sismico-especial-n-14-2016) (Ecuador) has published an update, #14, where they have said,


To date, there have been a total of 541 aftershocks, considering only the earthquakes that have been located in the rupture zone.

During this morning two major aftershocks were recorded at magnitude 6.1 Mw 03h33, with a depth of 16.1 km and another at 03h35 with a magnitude of 6.3 Mw., 9.3 km.

The two events are located in the northern part of the rupture zone, a few kilometers north of Muisne. The two epicenters are located offshore.




http://www.igepn.edu.ec/images/portal/noticias/sismos/20160420-1.jpg

"These events have been felt as two successive shocks in the provinces of Esmeraldas, Manabi, Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, Imbabura and in some buildings in Quito and Guayaquil. "

They have added a brief note on "aftershocks", to clarify why they are happening:


The presence of these shocks is a natural phenomenon that is associated with the adjustment of crustal rocks in the area where the earthquake occurred, and therefore, also relates to the size of the initial break. When the earthquake is larger period adjustment is longer. In this respect it is expected that the aftershocks will last for some days and weeks.