M5.9 earthquake 33 km NNW of Rosa Zarate, Ecuador
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck 33 km NNW of Rosa Zarate, Ecuador on Sun, Jul 10, 2016, 9:01 PM GMT-5 (02:01 UTC), 17 km (11 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M6.3 33 km NNW of Rosa Zarate, Ecuador. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.9 (mww), moderate
- Local time
- UTC
- 2016-07-11 02:01:09 UTC
- Depth
- 17.0 km (10.6 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 0.587° N, 79.636° W
- Region
- Ecuador
- Felt reports
- 13
- Strongest shaking
- VI, strong shaking
- PAGER alert
- Green
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
Shaking
The USGS ShakeMap: shaking estimated from seismic stations and the quake’s size, on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale.
- Strongest estimated
- VI, strong shaking
- Peak ground acceleration
- 22.9% of gravity
- Peak ground velocity
- 2.2 cm/s
- Map
- Automatic

Did you feel it?
13 people reported to the USGS what they felt; the strongest reported shaking was IV, light shaking.

Estimated impact
The USGS PAGER system estimates deaths and economic losses from the shaking and the population and buildings exposed to it.
- Alert level
- Green: little or no damage or loss of life expected
Fault motion and ground failure
How the rock slipped, from the moment tensor, and the USGS estimate of landslides and liquefaction.
- Faulting
- Reverse (thrust)
- Moment magnitude
- 5.9 Mww
- Nodal plane 1
- Strike 179°, dip 67°, rake 77°
- Nodal plane 2
- Strike 29°, dip 26°, rake 117°
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Location uncertainty
- About 6.1 km horizontally, 1.6 km in depth
- Depth from
- From modeling of broad-band P waveforms
- Station coverage gap
- 47°
- Stations used
- 191
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.5 and up: 5 in the 60 days after this one and 5 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 6.333 km NNW of Rosa Zarate, Ecuador · 3725 days ago · 21 km deep · 1 km away · felt by 88
- 4.326 km SSE of Esmeraldas, Ecuador · 3725 days ago · 10 km deep · 19 km away
- 4.750 km NW of Esmeraldas, Ecuador · 3722 days ago · 10 km deep · 85 km away
- 4.526 km WSW of Valdez, Ecuador · 3718 days ago · 10 km deep · 78 km away · felt by 1
- 4.460 km S of Valdez, Ecuador · 3672 days ago · 78 km deep · 63 km away · felt by 2
Before
- 4.017 km ESE of Esmeraldas, Ecuador · 3729 days ago · 35 km deep · 39 km away
- 4.628 km E of Esmeraldas, Ecuador · 3730 days ago · 35 km deep · 46 km away · felt by 1
- 4.224 km E of Esmeraldas, Ecuador · 3730 days ago · 35 km deep · 48 km away
- 4.313 km NNE of Pedernales, Ecuador · 3730 days ago · 10 km deep · 60 km away
- 4.318 km SE of Esmeraldas, Ecuador · 3742 days ago · 10 km deep · 29 km away
Earthquakes todayEcuador earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us100062hd (also filed as gcmt20160711020110, iscgem609093421, atlas20160711020109). Read Tue, Sep 22, 2026, 10:50 AM UTC.