Moderate mag. 5.0 earthquake - 16 km southeast of Duran, Provincia del Guayas, Ecuador, on Thursday, Jan 21, 2021 at 5:15 am (GMT -5)

Moderate magnitude 5.0 earthquake at 46 km depth

21 Jan 10:18 UTC: First to report: IGEPN after 3 minutes.
21 Jan 10:20: Magnitude recalculated from 5.2 to 5.1. Hypocenter depth recalculated from 45.0 to 46.0 km (from 28 to 29 mi). Epicenter location corrected by 1.1 km (0.7 mi) towards S.
21 Jan 10:22: Magnitude recalculated from 5.1 to 5.0.

Update Thu, 21 Jan 2021, 10:24

Significant earthquake of magnitude 5.0 just reported 16 km southeast of Duran, Ecuador

5.0 quake 21 Jan 5:15 am (GMT -5)

An earthquake of magnitude 5.0 occurred early morning on Thursday 21 January 2021 at 5:15 am local time near Duran, Durán, Provincia del Guayas, Ecuador, as reported by the Institute of Geophysics of the National Polytechnic School in Quito (IGEPN).
According to preliminary data, the quake was located at a moderately shallow depth of 46 km. The exact magnitude, epicenter, and depth of the quake might be revised within the next few hours or minutes as seismologists review data and refine their calculations, or as other agencies issue their report.
Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake should not have caused any significant damage, but was probably felt by many people as light vibration in the area of the epicenter.
Weak shaking might have been felt in Duran (pop. 167,800) located 16 km from the epicenter, Guayaquil (pop. 1,952,000) 17 km away, Yaguachi Nuevo (pop. 27,900) 22 km away, San Francisco de Milagro (pop. 133,500) 25 km away, Naranjito (pop. 34,200) 35 km away, Samborondon (pop. 24,100) 36 km away, El Triunfo (pop. 32,300) 45 km away, Naranjal (pop. 32,000) 47 km away, and Babahoyo (pop. 76,300) 59 km away.
VolcanoDiscovery will automatically update magnitude and depth if these change and follow up if other significant news about the quake become available. If you're in the area, please send us your experience through our reporting mechanism, either online or via our mobile app. This will help us provide more first-hand updates to anyone around the globe who wants to know more about this quake.

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Earthquake data

Earthquake details

Date & time	Jan 21, 2021 10:15:34 UTC
Local time at epicenter	Thursday, Jan 21, 2021 at 5:15 am (GMT -5)
Status	Confirmed
Magnitude	5
Depth	46.0 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude	2.28°S / 79.76°W (Duran, Provincia del Guayas, Ecuador)
Antipode	2.28°N / 100.24°E
Shaking intensity	Light shaking
Felt	52 reports
Primary data source	IGEPN (Institute of Geophysics of the National Polytechnic School in Quito)
Nearest volcano	Chimborazo (139 km / 86 mi)
Nearby towns and cities	16 km (10 mi) SE of Duran (Guayas) (pop: 167,800) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 17 km (10 mi) ESE of Guayaquil (Guayas) (pop: 1,952,000) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 22 km (13 mi) SSW of Yaguachi Nuevo (San Jacinto de Yaguachi, Guayas) (pop: 27,900) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 25 km (15 mi) SW of San Francisco de Milagro (Guayas) (pop: 133,500) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 35 km (22 mi) WSW of Naranjito (Guayas) (pop: 34,200) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 36 km (22 mi) S of Samborondon (Guayas) (pop: 24,100) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 45 km (28 mi) SSE of El Triunfo (Cantón Daule, Guayas) (pop: 32,300) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 47 km (29 mi) NNW of Naranjal (Guayas) (pop: 32,000) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 49 km (31 mi) WNW of La Troncal (Provincia de Cañar) (pop: 36,400) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 266 km (165 mi) SSW of Quito (Pichincha) (pop: 1,399,800) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby
Weather at epicenter at time of quake	Light Rain 24.4°C (76 F), humidity: 83%, wind: 2 m/s (3 kts) from NW
Estimated seismic energy released	2 x 10¹² joules (554 megawatt hours, equivalent to 477 tons of TNT) \| about seismic energy

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Data for the same earthquake reported by different agencies

Info: The more agencies report about the same quake and post similar data, the more confidence you can have in the data. It takes normally up to a few hours until earthquake parameters are calculated with near-optimum precision.

Mag.	Depth	Location	Source
5.0	46 km	Ecuador - Guayas, A 14.53km De Duran	IGEPN
4.8	73 km	Near Coast of Ecuador	GFZ
4.9	71 km	NEAR COAST OF ECUADOR	EMSC
4.9	83 km	Near the Coast of Ecuador	USGS

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User reports for this quake (55)

User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale.

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Edificio River Side (same building as Banco Pichin / Light shaking (MMI IV) / 2-5 s : I woke up to shaking at about 5:16 am in my apartment in Cuenca, Ecuador (The Riverside Building that contains the Pichincha Bank on Av Ordonez Lasso y Calle de Los Claveles). It lasted about 5 seconds. It did not set off car alarms outside and I did not | One user found this interesting.

Puertas del Sol, Cuenca, Ecuador (105.3 km SE of epicenter) [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / 1-2 s : I felt kind of a hummming that alerted me. It was followed within seconds by a brief, forceful jerking movement - enough to make a sound in the roof beams.

Manta Ecuador, Cantón Manta, Manabí (184.4 km NW of epicenter) [Map] / not felt : Felt nothing in Manta, whereas have felt many of thd smaller ones from canoa area over the last few weeks. (reported through our app)

Guayaquil (20.2 km NW of epicenter) [Map] / Strong shaking (MMI VI) / 5-10 s : Strong but over quick | One user found this interesting. (reported through our app)

Guayaquil (20.1 km NW of epicenter) [Map] / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s : Strong, start with a strong sound coming from far and later vibrating all the floor | One user found this interesting. (reported through our app)

Guayaquil / Moderate shaking (MMI V) : It felt like a wave from the ocean just passing through traveling in a precise direction. When it passed, the rumbling stopped, lasting only deconds

near Duran, Guayas (29.8 km NNW of epicenter) [Map] / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / horizontal (sideways) swinging (reported through our app)

Guaranda, Bolívar (114.2 km NE of epicenter) [Map] / Moderate shaking (MMI V) (reported through our app)

Guyaquil (27.2 km NW of epicenter) [Map] / Moderate shaking (MMI V) : Fue un poco fuerte pero de corta duración nos asustamos

La Paz (131.7 km SSE of epicenter) [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / 10-15 s : Felt like riding on a train.

Cuenca, Azuay (107.1 km SE of epicenter) [Map] / Weak shaking (MMI III)

Bellavista (20.2 km WNW of epicenter) [Map] / Moderate shaking (MMI V) : Estaba durmiendo, cuando sentí el movimiento, me levante y salí de mi casa, ahora estoy en la sala

Santa Lucia, Cantón Guayaquil, Guayas (25.2 km WNW of epicenter) [Map] / Weak shaking (MMI III) (reported through our app)

Guayaquil (24.5 km NW of epicenter) [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / 1-2 s : Was pretty strong with strong vibrations. Woke me out from f my sleep

Cuenca, Azuay (109.1 km SE of epicenter) [Map] / Strong shaking (MMI VI) : Big jolt

Samborondon (19.6 km NW of epicenter) [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s : short vibration as a turbulence in plane

Cuenca, Azuay (108 km SE of epicenter) [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV)

near El Triunfo, Cantón Daule, Guayas (34.8 km NNW of epicenter) [Map] / Strong shaking (MMI VI) (reported through our app)

near Duran, Guayas (1.1 km N of epicenter) [Map] / not felt

Cuenca, Azuay (114.9 km SE of epicenter) [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s

Riobamba, Chimborazo (142.6 km ENE of epicenter) [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) (reported through our app)

Remeson corto tiempo (16 km NNW of epicenter) [Map] / Strong shaking (MMI VI)

Santa Lucia, Cantón Guayaquil, Guayas (25.4 km WNW of epicenter) [Map] / Strong shaking (MMI VI) (reported through our app)

near Duran, Guayas (29.6 km NNW of epicenter) [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / 5-10 s (reported through our app)

Riobamba (142.6 km ENE of epicenter) [Map] / Weak shaking (MMI III) (reported through our app)

Cuenca, Azuay (107 km SE of epicenter) [Map] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / rattling, vibrating / 1-2 s (reported through our app)

Duran, Guayas (22.6 km NW of epicenter) [Map] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) (reported through our app)

Camilo Ponce enriqu (85.8 km S of epicenter) [Map] / Weak shaking (MMI III) (reported through our app)

Santa Lucia, Cantón Guayaquil, Guayas (27.6 km WNW of epicenter) [Map] / Moderate shaking (MMI V) (reported through our app)

Cuenca / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / 5-10 s : Was asleep, and the shaking of the bed woke me up.

Píllaro / Weak shaking (MMI III) / 10-15 s : Me desperté a las 5h15 a.m.

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Aftershocks

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Recorded aftershocks, latest first (2 quakes)

Date and time	Mag Depth	Location	Details
Feb 11, 2021 07:15 1 year 25 weeks ago	3.6 42 km	13 km E of Guayaquil, Provincia del Guayas, Ecuador	More
Jan 21, 2021 10:34 1 year 28 weeks ago - felt	3.5 47 km	17 km SE of Duran, Provincia del Guayas, Ecuador	More

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