WASHINGTON, April 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) – A strong 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck just off the coast of Ecuador early Sunday, the US Geological Survey said, but there were no immediate reports of damage and there was no tsunami warning.
The quake occurred at a shallow depth of 18.5 kilometers, in the Pacific Ocean west of Guayaquil and 27 kilometers north of Santa Elena, the agency reported.
According to The Watchers, there are around 1,560,000 people living within 100 km of the epicentre of the quake.
It is estimated that approximately 302,000 of them felt strong tremors.
In April 2016, Ecuador was hit by a 7.8-magnitude earthquake that killed hundreds of people, injuring over 12,000 and causing serious damage along the country’s Pacific coast.
Ecuador lies along the Pacific’s so-called “Ring of Fire,” a 25,000-mile horseshoe-shaped ring, accounting for approximately 90 percent of the world’s earthquakes, according to the USGS.
The region is the location of most of Earth’s subduction zones, where oceanic plates slide under the lighter continental plates. Earthquakes tend to happen when those plates scrape or subside underneath each other, and when that happens at sea it can spawn tsunamis.
The region also contains 452 volcanoes, more than 75 percent of the world’s active and dormant volcanoes. — NNN-AGENCIES
