<p>I'm doing an assignment where I'm comparing the two mentioned earthquakes, and trying to figure out which factors played a role in the amount of casualties. In the 1998 earthquake there were only three casualties, but in the 2016 earthquake there were nearly 700 casualties. </p>

<p>The population density in 2016 was a lot higher than it was in 1998. I found out that the 1998 earthquake was both deeper and weaker, still I find it strange that only three people died. The 2016 earthquake also occured at about 19:00, where as the 1998 earthquake occured at about 14:00. I'm thinking this plays a role as well, since more people are probably in their houses or asleep at 19:00. The 2016 earthquake also had a lot more aftershocks.</p>

<p>Are there any other factors you can think of which explains why there were so many more casualties in the 2016 earthquake?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-05-04T13:37:07.800Z
you do know the difference of an eartquake magnitude of 7,1 and one at magnitude 7,8.the difference in energy is realy big.
trond hansen
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-05-04T19:15:36.513Z
As @trondhansen says, between 7,2 and 7,8 magnitude the difference in energy is 8 times more for the second earthquake.
Santiago
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-05-04T20:16:07.140Z
It defenitely does play a big role, but im sure there are other factors that play in as well (regardless if they are significant in this case or not).
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<seismology><earthquakes>
Comparing the 4th of August 1998 earthquake to the 16th of April 2016 earthquake in Ecuador
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# Comparing the 4th of August 1998 earthquake to the 16th of April 2016 earthquake in Ecuador

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-05-04)

I'm doing an assignment where I'm comparing the two mentioned earthquakes, and trying to figure out which factors played a role in the amount of casualties. In the 1998 earthquake there were only three casualties, but in the 2016 earthquake there were nearly 700 casualties.

The population density in 2016 was a lot higher than it was in 1998. I found out that the 1998 earthquake was both deeper and weaker, still I find it strange that only three people died. The 2016 earthquake also occured at about 19:00, where as the 1998 earthquake occured at about 14:00. I'm thinking this plays a role as well, since more people are probably in their houses or asleep at 19:00. The 2016 earthquake also had a lot more aftershocks.

Are there any other factors you can think of which explains why there were so many more casualties in the 2016 earthquake?

**Tags:** seismology, earthquakes

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: you do know the difference of an eartquake magnitude of 7,1 and one at magnitude 7,8.the difference in energy is realy big.  
> **username_2**: As @username_1 says, between 7,2 and 7,8 magnitude the difference in energy is 8 times more for the second earthquake.  
> **username_0**: It defenitely does play a big role, but im sure there are other factors that play in as well (regardless if they are significant in this case or not).  

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## 0 answers

