March 22, 1859 Earthquake: Pichincha, Ecuador
An earthquake struck Pichincha, Ecuador on March 22, 1859 at 13:30:00 UTC.
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
- March 22, 1859
- Time
- 13:30:00 UTC
- Place
- Pichincha, Ecuador
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 0.300° S, 78.500° W
- Country
- Ecuador
The toll
- Deaths
- Few (about 1 to 50)
- 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.
March 22, 1859, at 8h30m , a frightful earthquake occurred ,
which left the capital ruined in 64 seconds; M. Cueva in Apuntamientos Historicos". This earthquake was the strongest of this century in the province of Pichincha; T. Wolf - Very long and amazing earthquake felt in all the country and it endured more than two minutes without exageration. Only due to the hour a few people were killed, because almost everybody could be safe. Albelardo G. Iturralde. (reference #1106)
March 22, 1859. At Quito, about 5000 persons killed and an immense amount of property destroyed. (reference #1073)
March 22, 1859, Ecuador, Quito, Machachi, Perucho, Pomasqui, Saint Antonio, Chillogallo; felt from Guayaquil to Magdolena and Popayan in Colombia, intensity III which corresponds to an earthquake which destroyed towns and devastated districts. (reference #1055)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- August 16, 1868, San Pablo, Guayaquil,ibarra, Colombia, Ecuador
- February 4, 1797, Riobamba, Quito, Cuzco, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador
- June 20, 1698, Tungurahua,cotopaxi,chimborazo, Ecuador
- August 5, 1949, Tungurahua, Ecuador
- March 6, 1987, Napo Province, Quito, Tulcan, Ecuador
- February 1640, Ecuador
- February 22, 1757, Cotopaxi,tungurahua, Latacunga, Ecuador
- January 31, 1906, Off Coast, Ecuador
- April 16, 2016, Manabi, Esmeraldas, Near West Coast, Ecuador
- December 14, 1923, Ipiales, Colombia
- January 9, 1936, Colombia
- March 3, 1924, Ecuador
- March 28, 1996, Cotopaxi, Pastaza, Tungurahua, Ambato, Ecuador
- July 30, 1960, Ecuador
- April 9, 1976, Esmeraldos, Ecuador
More
Significant earthquakes of 1859The 1800sRecent earthquakes near hereThis day in weather history
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 2033.