Historically Significant Earthquakes in Ecuador

On April 17, 2015, a magnitude 5.5 hit Bahia de Caraquez, Ecuador. This earthquake was pretty
great, as reported on CNN Sunday had a magnitude-7.8 earthquake that struck coastal Ecuador.
This left more than 2,500 injured, and 272 were reported dead. The damages were so extensive,
that rescuers are continuing to find survivors through rubble. An earthquake is caused when a
rock underneath breaks and begin rubbing on each other, therefore creating seismic waves that
causes the ground to shake. With the reports 7.8 magnitude earthquake, 4 other earthquakes were
also reported around the area of Ecuador: 4.6, 5.5, 4.5, and 5.6. These earthquakes all affected
the areas of Muisne and Bajia de Caraquez, Ecuador.

Historically Significant Earthquakes in South America

There are numerous reports of various earthquake magnitudes in South America ranging from
4.2 to 5.6. The ear quakes were mostly occurring in Equador, and in some parts of Chile as well.
The location of these earthquakes seem to be affected mostly on the outside of the country, rather
than in the middle. This shows that earthquakes are mostly caused in the oceans, then the seismic
waves are then travelled to the shores and outer sides of the countries. Ecuador is considered a
third world country, therefore their living environments are different than California. California
have certain designed buildings to help prevent earthquakes, but for Ecuador their buildings were
not designed to be earthquake proof.

Historically Significant Earthquakes Worldwide

This last map shows the frequent earthquake occurrences in a global perspective. There has been
at least 40 earthquakes reported on April 17, 2016. This map shows that the most occurrences of
earthquakes are located around South America. Some patterns are scattered in other parts of the
world, and mostly affected smaller islands that are mostly surrounded by water. The magnitude
ranges from 2.5 - 6. the potential hazard from earthquakes happening are tsunamis. Precautions
to these disasters is to keep extra food and water, also be informed and seek help from other
organizations, such as the American Red Cross.

Works Cited:
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/

http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/17/americas/ecuador-deadly-earthquake/