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 5, 1949
Time: 19:08:51 UTC
Place: Tungurahua, Ecuador
Magnitude: 6.5 (Mw)
Magnitude scales: Mw 6.5 · Unspecified 6.8
Focal depth: 60 km (37 mi)
Tsunami: None recorded
Epicenter: 1.237° S, 78.305° W
Country: Ecuador
Region: South America
USGS record: The USGS’s page for this earthquake

Mw: moment magnitude, based on the slip on the fault and the area that slipped. Unspecified: the method was not stated in the published sources. NCEI’s headline magnitude is the best of these for the earthquake.

The toll

Deaths: 6,000
Damage: $7.5 million
Houses destroyed: Very many (over 1,000)
Houses damaged: Very many (over 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.

From Wikipedia

A magnitude 6.4 Ms earthquake struck Ecuador's Tungurahua Province southeast of its capital Ambato and killed 5,050 people on August 5, 1949. The nearby villages of Guano, Patate, Pelileo, and Pillaro were destroyed, and the city of Ambato suffered heavy damage. The earthquake flattened buildings and subsequent landslides caused damage throughout the Tungurahua, Chimborazo, and Cotopaxi Provinces. It disrupted water mains and communication lines and opened a fissure into which the small town of Libertad sank. Moderate shaking from the event extended as far away as Quito and Guayaquil.

Earthquakes in Ecuador stem from two major interrelated tectonic areas: the subduction of the Nazca plate under the South American plate and the Andean Volcanic Belt. The 1949 Ambato earthquake initially followed an intersection of several northwest–southeast-trending faults in the Inter-Andean Valley which were created by the subduction of the Carnegie Ridge. Strata of rock cracked as the earthquake ruptured the faults, sending out powerful shock waves. Today threats exist throughout the country from both interplate and intraplate seismicity.

Text from Wikipedia, “1949 Ambato earthquake”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted as written; the full article has the rest.

What the record says

NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.

Destructive at Ambato, Guano, Pelileo, Paltate, and Pillaro. 4,000 to 6,000 killed. Approximately $7,500,000 property damage. Mag. 7. (reference #45)

1949 Aug 05 Ecuador: Ambato, magnitude 6.8, 6000 deaths (reference #1003)

1949 Aug 05 Ecuador: Ambato, 5,050 deaths. 20 m in losses (reference #1051)

1949 Aug 05 19:08:51.66 UTC, 1.237 S 78.305 W, magnitude 6.45 Mw (reference #10476, version 9)

Sources NCEI cites

The publications NCEI lists for this record. The numbers match the “reference #” notes in its account above.

#1047 Comite del Ano Geofisico Internacional del Ecuador (1959). Breve Historia de los Principales Teremotos en la Republica del Ecuador, Observatorio Astronomico de Quito, Quito, Ecuador.
#1051 Munchener Ruckversicherungs-Gesellschaft (1998). World Map of Natural Hazards, Munich Federal Republic of Germany
#1153 Rothe, J.P. (1953). Tableau de la seismicite du globe pendant les annees 1949-1950, Bureau International De Seismologie, Strasbourg.
#45 U.S. Department of the Interior, Geological Survey and U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (1928-1986). United States Earthquakes, Annual publication, published 1928-1986. vol.s for 1928-1965 issued by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey; volumes for 1966-1969 issued by the National Earthquake Information Center; volume for 1970 issued by the National Geophysical Data Center; volumes for 1971-1972 issued by the National Geophysical And Solar-Terrestrial Data Center; volumes for 1973-1980 published jointly by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Geological Survey; volumes for 1981-1986 published by the U.S. Geological Survey. [on shelf]
#1003 Bath, Markus (1973). Introduction to Seismology, Halsted Press, 1978.
#1221 Ocola, Leonidas (1984). Proyecto de Sismicidad Andina SISAN, vol. 4 - Catalogos Sismicos: Republica del Peru, Instituto Geofisico del Ecuador, Geofisica Aplicada, Lima, Peru.
#1207 Askew, B.L., and S.T. Algermissen (1985). Catalog of Earthquakes for South America, Hypocenter and Intensity Data, vol. 6 - Ecuador, Centro Regional de Sismologia para America del Sur, Lima, Peru.
#1127 Egred, J.A. (1968). Breve historia sismica de la Republica Del Ecuador. Boletin, Bibliografico de Geofisic y Oceanografia Americanas, vol. IV, parte Geofisica 1965-1967, Mexico, 1968, p. 149-190.

Other significant earthquakes nearby

Within 200 km, the deadliest first.

More

Significant earthquakes of 1949 The 1900s Every quake the USGS located in 1949 Recent earthquakes near here This 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 2026-10-01. NCEI earthquake 3914. The written accounts and the magnitude estimates are from the USGS earthquake catalog, event iscgem896736, matched to this record by time, place and magnitude.