(EXPLORING THE EARTH is a regular column that examines various aspects of Earth Science through the lens of The Layered Earth software. This newsletter examines the recent massive earthquake that occurred in Ecuador and how The Layered Earth software can be used to illustrate several unique features relating to this geological event.)
The earthquake’s epicenter was near the Pacific coast of Ecuador.
A massive earthquake of magnitude 7.8 struck Ecuador on April 16, 2016. The earthquake occurred in the early evening at 6:58 p.m. local time (23:58 UTC), and was located near the Pacific coast approximately 170 km (106 miles) west of the capital city of Quito. The earthquake occurred at a relatively shallow depth of 19.2 km (11.9 mi) and was powerful enough to cause widespread damage that resulted in the death of approximately 577 people.
These two photos provide graphic evidence of the widespread damage caused by the Ecuador earthquake.
Ecuador is an extremely active seismic zone since it lies above the boundary where two large tectonic plates meet; the Nazca Plate and the South American Plate.
The Nazca and the South American plates meet off the Pacific coast of South America.
Layered Earth software users: To view tectonic plates:
- Click on the Layers button in the bottom left corner of the screen.
- Navigate through the following subdirectories by clicking on the subdirectory symbol beside each subdirectory name:
o PLATE TECTONICS -> TECTONIC PLATES (make sure that you have clicked on the check box beside TECTONIC PLATES).
- A number of subdirectories will now be visible. Uncheck the box beside COMPOSITE MAP (it is the default). Click on the check box beside TECTONIC PLATE OUTLINES. You will now see an outline of the tectonic plates on the main screen.
- Now also click on the check box for TECTONIC PLATES (SHADED). This will serve to color in all of the tectonic plates making them more visible.
- Now click on the subdirectory symbol immediately to the left of the check box for TECTONIC PLATES (SHADED). A listing of all the tectonic plates now appears. Uncheck all of the boxes except for Nazca Plate and South American Plate. Now only the Nazca and South American plates will be highlighted and colored in.
(Note: Users may wish to turn off the cloud layer as this can sometimes obscure the underlying data layer. Click on the subdirectory symbol beside the ATMOSPHERE AND STARS subdirectory in Layers. Uncheck the box beside Clouds.