February 1640 Earthquake: Ecuador

Name: February 1640 Earthquake: Ecuador
Location: Ecuador

February 1640 · 5,000 deaths

An earthquake struck Ecuador in February 1640. It killed 5,000 people.

Map

Where it struck, with the other significant earthquakes within 200 km. Circles are sized and colored by magnitude; select one for its page.

The earthquake

Date: February 1640
Place: Ecuador
Tsunami: None recorded
Epicenter: 1.700° S, 78.600° W
Country: Ecuador

The toll

Deaths: 5,000
Damage: Severe (about $5 to $25 million)

Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.

What the record says

NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.

Reference #1127 states the date of this earthquake is not known. Father Velasco describes it as follows: "The great Indian town of Cacha sank and disappeared entirely, together with Yaruquíes, near Riohamba, with all its inhabitants who arrived, according to what is said, to more than 5,000".-Augusto N. Martinez, comments on this earthquake, saying that: "The event, without a doubt, did not come directly, nor perhaps indirectly, from any volcano". Then he adds that he was in 1871 at the site of the Cacha sinking and, indeed, he saw signs and proofs of this very slow sinking, which we call in geology "secular sinking." [Unofficial translation]

Other significant earthquakes nearby

Within 200 km, the deadliest first.

Significant earthquakes of 1640 The 1600s Recent earthquakes near here

Sources

Significant earthquakes from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-09-24. NCEI earthquake 944.