A powerful earthquake is unpredictable and has the ability to destroy cities in mere minutes. There is little mystery as to how earthquakes come about; they are caused by plate tectonics. The earth’s lithosphere, which is the outer shell membrane of our earth, has 7 to 8 major tectonic plates and many minor ones, and these plates are in constant motion. When these plates converge, it can create a catastrophe.
On this day February 4th, in 1797, Ecuador is hit with an 8.3 magnitude earthquake. It is one of the more devastating earthquakes, taking 40,000 lives with it. It is said that the earthquake lasted for a few minutes, and within that few minutes it destroyed multiple cities, and it was a catalyst for landslides, which continued for over two months after the earthquake hit. Riobamba was later rebuilt approximately 14 miles northeast of its original location.
Ecuador is a South American country located on the northwest portion of South America. It is situated over two tectonic plates: the Nazca Plate and the South American Plate. It was later discovered that the Nazca Plate had gone beneath the South American Plate. This is known as subduction, when one plate goes underneath another one. Of course as the lithosphere shifted, so did everything else above it.