M6.3 earthquake near Salinas, Santa Elena

What happened

A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck 24 km NNW of Salinas, Ecuador on 5 Aug 1996, 21:39 UTC at a depth of 33 km.

Earthquakes of this size are classed as Strong. Can cause damage in populated areas up to tens of kilometres away. This was a shallow earthquake, which tends to be felt more strongly at the surface.

The nearest town in our records is Salinas, about 25 km away in Santa Elena, Ecuador.