August 4, 1998 Earthquake: Bahia DE Caraquez, Canoa, Ecuador
A magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck Bahia DE Caraquez, Canoa, Ecuador on August 4, 1998 at 18:59:20 UTC, 33 km below the surface. It killed 3 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
- August 4, 1998
- Time
- 18:59:20 UTC
- Place
- Bahia DE Caraquez, Canoa, Ecuador
- Magnitude
- 7.2 (Mw)
- Focal depth
- 33 km (21 mi)
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 0.593° S, 80.393° W
- Country
- Ecuador
The toll
- Deaths
- 3
- Injuries
- 40
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million)
- Houses damaged
- Many (101 to 1,000); Some (about 51 to 100) with its tsunami and other effects
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.
1998, Aug 4. Three people killed and forty injured in the
Bahia de Caraquez-Canoa area. Approximately sixty percent
of the buildings at Canoa severely damaged. Electricity,
telephone and water services disrupted and most buildings
with three or more stories damaged at Bahia de Caraquez.
Considerable damage in many other parts of western Manabi
Province. Landslides blocked a road between Bahia de
Caraquez and Canoa. Felt strongly at Guayaquil and Quito.
Felt in much of Ecuador and also at Cali, Colombia.(reference #1053)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- June 20, 1698, Tungurahua,cotopaxi,chimborazo, Ecuador
- April 16, 2016, Manabi, Esmeraldas, Near West Coast, Ecuador
- May 14, 1942, Guayaquil, Ecuador
- March 28, 1996, Cotopaxi, Pastaza, Tungurahua, Ambato, Ecuador
- July 30, 1960, Ecuador
- April 9, 1976, Esmeraldos, Ecuador
- August 18, 1980, W, Guayaquil, Ecuador
- December 19, 2016, Esmeraldas, Ecuador
- May 18, 2016, Manabi Province, Ecuador
- July 14, 2022, Guayas, Ecuador
- March 27, 2022, Esmeraldas, Ecuador
- January 16, 1956, Ecuador
- November 1, 1904, Ecuador
- January 24, 2005, Puerto Lopez, Salango, Near West Coast, Ecuador
- January 30, 1943, Guayaquil, Ecuador
More
Significant earthquakes of 1998The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1998Recent 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 5502.