M5.5 earthquake near Santa Elena, Santa Elena

What happened

A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck 34 km NNE of Santa Elena, Ecuador on 31 Mar 2019, 07:28 UTC at a depth of 19 km.

Earthquakes of this size are classed as Moderate. Can damage poorly built structures close to the epicentre. This was a shallow earthquake, which tends to be felt more strongly at the surface.

The nearest town in our records is Santa Elena, about 35 km away in Santa Elena, Ecuador.