August 15, 1868 Earthquake: El Angel, Concepcion, Ecuador
A magnitude 8 earthquake struck El Angel, Concepcion, Ecuador on August 15, 1868 at 19:30 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
- August 15, 1868
- Time
- 19:30 UTC
- Place
- El Angel, Concepcion, Ecuador
- Magnitude
- 8 (Ms)
- Intensity
- 8 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 0.810° N, 77.720° W
- Country
- Ecuador
The toll
- Deaths
- Few (about 1 to 50)
- 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.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
August 15, 1868, 19:30 UTC, 0.81 N, 77.72 W, intensity VIII, magnitude 7-8. (reference #1175)
August 15, 1868, 20:00 UTC, 0.8 N, 77.7 W, magnitude 7.0, intensity IX, casualties. (reference #1205)
August 15, 1868, 20:00 UTC, 0.727 N, 77.887 W, depth 5 km, intensity VIII. (reference #1220)
August 15th, 1868, about two or three o'clock in the afternoon, the towns of El Angel and Concepcion, were rudely shaked. This shakeness also started naturally the people of Imbabura (it was felt until Quito although slightly) and because the movements happened frequently and so much that they were obligated to be on the watch during long hours. After the shake at seven 0'clock in the afternoon which was very strong no one repeated and almost of the people went to bed although with light and opened the door of the room" Pedro Fermin Cevallos in his "Historia General del Ecuador"... it is necessary to recall that the catastrophe of 16th was preceding at 15th [August] by a movement which was softly perceived a few leguas to the North, in which it ruined the town of El Angel... (reference #1106)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- August 16, 1868, San Pablo, Guayaquil,ibarra, Colombia, Ecuador
- March 6, 1987, Napo Province, Quito, Tulcan, Ecuador
- January 31, 1906, Off Coast, Ecuador
- December 12, 1979, Off Shore, Pacific Ocean, Colombia
- December 14, 1923, Ipiales, Colombia
- January 9, 1936, Colombia
- November 16, 1827, Bogota, Neiva, Popayan, Pasto, Huila, Colombia
- August 7, 1935, Funes, Colombia
- August 11, 1990, Pamasqui, Quito, Ecuador
- August 12, 2014, Quito, Ecuador
- June 12, 2018, Pasto, Colombia
- July 14, 1947, Pasto, Colombia
- July 25, 2022, Ecuador, Colombia
- February 9, 2013, Cauca, Narino, Valle del Cauca, Risaralda, Colombia
- January 20, 1834, Putumayo,pasto, Popayan, Santa Marta, Colombia
More
Significant earthquakes of 1868The 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 2142.