July 27, 1971 Earthquake: Guayaquil, Peru-Ecuador

Date

July 27, 1971

Time

02:02:49 UTC

Place

Guayaquil, Peru-Ecuador

Magnitude

6.3 (mb)

Magnitude scales

mb 6.3 · Unspecified 7.5

Focal depth

135 km (84 mi)

Intensity

VII, very strong shaking, on the Modified Mercalli scale

Tsunami

None recorded

Epicenter

2.700° S, 77.400° W

Country

Peru

Region

South America

mb: body-wave (P-wave) magnitude. Unspecified: the method was not stated in the published sources. NCEI’s headline magnitude is the best of these for the earthquake.

Deaths

1

Injuries

Some (about 51 to 100)

Damage

Moderate (about $1 to $5 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.

1. #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]
2. #1053 National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC) (1971 to 2013). Preliminary Determination of Epicenters (PDE), a weekly and monthly publication, National Earthquake Information Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Golden, Colorado, 1971 to 2013.
3. #1220 Ocola, Leonidas (1984). Proyecto de Sismicidad Andina SISAN, vol. 3 - Catalogos Sismicos: Republica del Ecuador, Instituto Geofisico del Peru, Geofisica Aplicada, Lima, Peru.
4. #1221 Ocola, Leonidas (1984). Proyecto de Sismicidad Andina SISAN, vol. 4 - Catalogos Sismicos: Republica del Peru, Instituto Geofisico del Ecuador, Geofisica Aplicada, Lima, Peru.

• February 4, 1797, Riobamba, Quito, Cuzco, Peru, Colombia, EcuadorM8.3 · 40,000 deaths · 184 km
• August 5, 1949, Tungurahua, EcuadorM6.5 · 6,000 deaths · $7.5 million · 191 km
• February 1640, Ecuador5,000 deaths · 174 km
• March 3, 1924, EcuadorM6.9 · 40 deaths · 181 km
• October 3, 1995, Quito, EcuadorM7 · 2 deaths · 83 houses destroyed · 54 km
• February 22, 2019, Azuay, Manabi, Morona Sant., Peru, EcuadorM7.5 · 1 death · 5 houses destroyed · 69 km
• January 31, 2018, Pastaza, EcuadorM5.2 · 1 death · 111 km
• November 16, 2007, Guayaquil, Peru-EcuadorM6.8 · 65 km
• August 12, 2010, Manta, Guayaquil, Loja, EcuadorM7.1 · 160 km
• August 5, 1950, EcuadorM6.8 · 160 km
• February 19, 1645, EcuadorM7.5 · Deaths: many · 174 km
• March 1689, Tixan, EcuadorM6.8 · 176 km
• January 10, 1641, EcuadorM7.6 · 181 km
• September 28, 1906, EcuadorM7.9 · 194 km
• October 9, 2009, Tena, EcuadorM5.4 · 199 km

Significant earthquakes of 1971The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1971Recent 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 2026-10-01. NCEI earthquake 4578.