April 9, 1976 Earthquake: Esmeraldos, Ecuador
A magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck Esmeraldos, Ecuador on April 9, 1976 at 07:08:47 UTC, 9 km below the surface. It killed 10 people.
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
- April 9, 1976
- Time
- 07:08:47 UTC
- Place
- Esmeraldos, Ecuador
- Magnitude
- 6.7 (Ms)
- Focal depth
- 9 km (6 mi)
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 0.780° N, 79.800° W
- Country
- Ecuador
The toll
- Deaths
- 10
- Damage
- $4 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.
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- August 16, 1868, San Pablo, Guayaquil,ibarra, Colombia, Ecuador
- January 31, 1906, Off Coast, Ecuador
- April 16, 2016, Manabi, Esmeraldas, Near West Coast, Ecuador
- December 12, 1979, Off Shore, Pacific Ocean, Colombia
- January 19, 1958, Colombia-Ecuador
- August 11, 1990, Pamasqui, Quito, Ecuador
- December 19, 2016, Esmeraldas, Ecuador
- August 4, 1998, Bahia DE Caraquez, Canoa, Ecuador
- August 12, 2014, Quito, Ecuador
- March 27, 2022, Esmeraldas, Ecuador
- May 18, 2016, Manabi Province, Ecuador
- June 25, 1989, Esmeraldas, Guayaquil, Ecuador
- April 25, 2025, Esmeraldas, Ecuador
- February 7, 1906, Colombia-Ecuador
- February 1, 1958, Colombia-Ecuador
More
Significant earthquakes of 1976The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1976Recent 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 4718.