April 26, 1755 Earthquake: Pichincha, Quito, Ecuador

Date

April 26, 1755

Place

Pichincha, Quito, Ecuador

Magnitude

7

Intensity

9 on the Modified Mercalli scale

Tsunami

None recorded

Epicenter

0.200° S, 78.500° W

Country

Ecuador

Deaths

Many (about 101 to 1,000)

Damage

Severe (about $5 to $25 million)

Houses destroyed

Many (101 to 1,000)

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.

• August 16, 1868, San Pablo, Guayaquil,ibarra, Colombia, EcuadorM7.7 · 70,000 deaths · 67 km
• February 4, 1797, Riobamba, Quito, Cuzco, Peru, Colombia, EcuadorM8.3 · 40,000 deaths · 161 km
• June 20, 1698, Tungurahua,cotopaxi,chimborazo, EcuadorM7.7 · 6,500 deaths · 113 km
• August 5, 1949, Tungurahua, EcuadorM6.5 · 6,000 deaths · $7.5 million · 117 km
• March 6, 1987, Napo Province, Quito, Tulcan, EcuadorM7.2 · 5,000 deaths · $1.5 billion · 86 km
• February 1640, Ecuador5,000 deaths · 167 km
• February 22, 1757, Cotopaxi,tungurahua, Latacunga, EcuadorM7 · 1,000 deaths · 79 km
• January 31, 1906, Off Coast, EcuadorM8.8 · 1,000 deaths · 161 km
• April 16, 2016, Manabi, Esmeraldas, Near West Coast, EcuadorM7.8 · 663 deaths · $3.3 billion · 6,998 houses destroyed · 171 km
• December 14, 1923, Ipiales, ColombiaM6.2 · 300 deaths · 143 km
• January 9, 1936, ColombiaM5.6 · 250 deaths · 176 km
• March 3, 1924, EcuadorM6.9 · 40 deaths · 156 km
• March 28, 1996, Cotopaxi, Pastaza, Tungurahua, Ambato, EcuadorM5.9 · 27 deaths · $7 million · 97 km
• July 30, 1960, Ecuador11 deaths · 155 km
• April 9, 1976, Esmeraldos, EcuadorM6.7 · 10 deaths · $4 million · 181 km

Significant earthquakes of 1755The 1700sRecent earthquakes near hereThis day in weather history

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 1334.