7.5 Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Near Ecuador's Border With Peru

A powerful earthquake struck eastern Ecuador early Friday, sending tremors for miles through a sparsely populated area and into neighboring Peru and Colombia. The quake hit at an intermediate depth of about 82 miles, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

For an area ranging some 50 to 100 miles from the quake's center, the quake was felt at a magnitude of at least 5.5, according to the USGS.

"The Peru-Chile Trench is an area that hosts large earthquakes quite regularly," the USGS said. It added that 15 other intermediate-depth earthquakes have occurred within 310 miles of the epicenter in the past 100 years.

"Today's earthquake is the largest of these," the USGS said.

The earthquake isn't likely to trigger a tsunami, geologists said.

"A destructive Pacific-wide tsunami is not expected" because of the quake, the U.S. Tsunami Warning Center said in notices that were sent to Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa and other areas.

BILL CHAPPELL

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Full Article: https://www.npr.org/2019/02/22/696961234/7-5-magnitude-earthquake-strikes-near-ecuadors-border-with-peru