July 20, 1955 Earthquake: Colombia-Ecuador

Date

July 20, 1955

Time

21:00 UTC

Place

Colombia-Ecuador

Magnitude

6

Tsunami

None recorded

Epicenter

0.200° N, 78.400° W

Country

Colombia

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.

• August 16, 1868, San Pablo, Guayaquil,ibarra, Colombia, EcuadorM7.7 · 70,000 deaths · 27 km
• June 20, 1698, Tungurahua,cotopaxi,chimborazo, EcuadorM7.7 · 6,500 deaths · 159 km
• August 5, 1949, Tungurahua, EcuadorM6.5 · 6,000 deaths · $7.5 million · 160 km
• March 6, 1987, Napo Province, Quito, Tulcan, EcuadorM7.2 · 5,000 deaths · $1.5 billion · 70 km
• February 22, 1757, Cotopaxi,tungurahua, Latacunga, EcuadorM7 · 1,000 deaths · 124 km
• January 31, 1906, Off Coast, EcuadorM8.8 · 1,000 deaths · 137 km
• April 16, 2016, Manabi, Esmeraldas, Near West Coast, EcuadorM7.8 · 663 deaths · $3.3 billion · 6,998 houses destroyed · 170 km
• December 12, 1979, Off Shore, Pacific Ocean, ColombiaM8.1 · 600 deaths · $8 million · 10,000 houses destroyed · 179 km
• December 14, 1923, Ipiales, ColombiaM6.2 · 300 deaths · 102 km
• January 9, 1936, ColombiaM5.6 · 250 deaths · 134 km
• January 19, 1958, Colombia-EcuadorM7.6 · 115 deaths · 189 km
• March 28, 1996, Cotopaxi, Pastaza, Tungurahua, Ambato, EcuadorM5.9 · 27 deaths · $7 million · 142 km
• April 9, 1976, Esmeraldos, EcuadorM6.7 · 10 deaths · $4 million · 168 km
• August 7, 1935, Funes, ColombiaM6.1 · 8 deaths · 155 km
• August 11, 1990, Pamasqui, Quito, EcuadorM4.4 · 4 deaths · 29 km

Significant earthquakes of 1955The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1955Recent 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 4079.