Moderate 4.6 quake hits near Portoviejo, Provincia de Manabi, Ecuador

A moderately shallow magnitude 4.6 earthquake was reported in the evening near Portoviejo, Provincia de Manabi, Ecuador.
According to the United States Geological Survey, the quake hit on Thursday, September 18th, 2025, at 8:49 pm local time at a moderately shallow depth of 35. km. The exact magnitude, epicenter, and depth of the quake might be revised within the next few hours or minutes as seismologists review data and refine their calculations, or as other agencies issue their report.
A second report was later issued by The Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS), which listed it as a magnitude 4.6 earthquake as well. Other agencies reporting the same quake include the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) at magnitude 4.6, the Institute of Geophysics of the National Polytechnic School in Quito (IGEPN) at magnitude 4.7, The Colombian Geological Service (SGC) at magnitude 4.4, and the citizen-seismograph network of RaspberryShake at magnitude 4.2.
Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake should not have caused any significant damage, but was probably felt by many people as light vibration in the area of the epicenter.
Weak shaking might have been felt in Jipijapa (pop. 35,900) located 27 km from the epicenter, Montecristi (pop. 18,400) 30 km away, Manta (pop. 264,300) 37 km away, Sucre (pop. 15,300) 44 km away, and Portoviejo (pop. 321,800) 46 km away.
Other towns or cities near the epicenter where the quake might have been felt as very weak shaking include Calceta (pop. 17,300) located 86 km from the epicenter, Bahia de Caraquez (pop. 37,100) 86 km away, and Pedro Carbo (pop. 23,400) 88 km away.
VolcanoDiscovery will automatically update magnitude and depth if these change and follow up if other significant news about the quake become available. If you’re in the area, please send us your experience through our reporting mechanism, either online or via our mobile app. This will help us provide more first-hand updates to anyone around the globe who wants to know more about this quake.


Earthquake data:
Date & time: Sep 18, 2025 08:49 pm (Guayaquil time) local time (19 Sep 2025 01:49 GMT)
Magnitude: 4.6
Depth: 35.00 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 1.27°S / 80.81°W (Jipijapa, Provincia de Manabi, Ecuador)
Primary data source: USGS
https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/earthquake/news/281175/Moderate-46-quake-hits-near-Portoviejo-Provincia-de-Manabi-Ecuador.html