Sunday 8 October 2017

Magnitude 5.1 Earthquake in Morona Santiago Province, Ecuador.

The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 5.1 Earthquake at a depth of 147.3 km, roughly 6 km to the northwest of the town of Palora in Morona Santiago Province, Ecuador, slightly after 4.25 am local time (slightly after 9.25 am GMT) on Saturday 7 October 2017. As with most Earthquakes this deep there are no reports of any damage or casualties associated with this event (shockwaves from Earthquakes lose energy passing through layers of rock), but the event was felt across much of central and western Ecuador.

The approximate location of the 7 October 2017 Morona Santiago Earthquake. USGS.

Ecuador is on the west coast of South America and the western margin of the South American Plate, close to where the Nazca Plate, which underlies part of the east Pacific, is being subducted along the Peru-Chile Trench. The Nazca Plate passes under the South American Plate as it sinks into the Earth, this is not a smooth process and the plates repeatedly stick together then break apart as the pressure builds up, causing Earthquakes. As the Nazca Plate sinks further it is melted by the heat of the Earth's interior. Some of this melted material then rises through the overlying South American Plate, fuelling the volcanoes of Ecuador and neighbouring countries.

 The subduction of the Nazca Plate beneath the South American Plate, and how it causes Earthquakes and volcanoes. SIO SEARCH.

Witness accounts of Earthquakes can help geologists to understand these events, and the structures that cause them. The international non-profit organisation Earthquake Report is interested in hearing from people who may have felt this event; if you felt this quake then you can report it to Earthquake Report here.

See also...

http://sciencythoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2017/06/magnitude-56-earthquake-on-peru-equador.htmlhttp://sciencythoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/hundreds-dead-after-magnitude-78.html
http://sciencythoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/magnitude-54-earthquake-in-canar.htmlhttp://sciencythoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/eruptions-on-cotopaxi.html
http://sciencythoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/eruption-on-wolf-volcano.htmlhttp://sciencythoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/seismic-swarms-beneath-cerro-negro-de.html
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