Attachments
Description of the Event
Date of event
2023-03-20
What happened, where and when?
Rainy season:
According to the National Regional Study of the El Niño Phenomenon (ERFEN, by its initials in Spanish) Committee, abnormal warming was observed in the Ecuadorian Sea and on the northern coast of Peru (Niño 1+2 region), registering temperatures between 27 and 29°C on the surface, which were up to 1.5 °C higher than normal. In addition to atmospheric instability and the transit of equatorial waves, these conditions led to the intensification of convective activity with intense precipitations (1).
During 2023, 205 cantons of the country were affected by 3,181 hazardous events caused by the rainy season, affecting more than 148,255 people. The provinces with the greatest impact on the population were Guayas, Los Ríos, Esmeraldas, Manabí, Santa Elena, Bolívar, Cotopaxi, El Oro, Santo Domingo de Los Tsáchilas, Imbabura, Loja, Pastaza and Pichincha (2).
Earthquake:
On March 18, 2023, in the Gulf of Guayaquil, a seismic event was recorded with a magnitude of 6.64 Mw, a depth of 63.1 km, and a total of 72 aftershocks between 2.1 and 4.6 MLv. Although the main earthquake and aftershocks had an epicenter in the province of Guayas, the main damages were registered in the cantons of Santa Rosa and El Guabo in the province of El Oro.
On March 20, the President of Ecuador declared a state of emergency for 60 days through Decree No. 693 for the provinces of Guayas, El Oro, Pichincha, Loja, Los Ríos, Bolívar, Santa Elena, Esmeraldas, Manabí, Imbabura, Chimborazo, Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, Napo, and Azuay. The state of exception due to public calamity was based on the serious affectations to the life and material goods of the inhabitants of these provinces as a result of the serious winter season and the telluric movement.
From March 18 to May 4, more than 3,774 people were reported to have been affected by this emergency. The provinces with the greatest impact on the population were El Oro, Guayas, and Azuay (3).
In response to these two emergencies, on April 6, 2023, the Ecuadorian Red Cross launched an IFRC-DREF for Assessment to conduct a detailed Damage and Needs Assessment in 15 of the provinces reported to have been affected. The assessment aimed to identify the impacts resulting from the heavy rains that have been affecting the country since February 2023, as well as the 6.5 magnitude earthquake that occurred in March 2023.
During the implementation of the DREF for Assessment, on June 4, a new flooding event occurred in the Province of Esmeraldas, causing widespread affectation. Heavy rains were recorded in the province of Esmeraldas, causing 7 rivers to overflow: Súa and Tonchigüe (Atacames canton); Teaone (Esmeraldas canton); Cube, Viche, and Blanco (Quinindé canton), Matambal (Muisne canton), which affected 7 cantons and 21 parishes. Additionally, on 6 June, the Rioverde River overflowed affecting the Rioverde canton in the Lagarto parish.
Due to the event, more than 22,181 people were affected (who are included in the total 148,255 people affected by the rainy season during 2023) and three dead, as well as 6,309 houses impacted, and 495 crops lost (4).
To respond to this combined emergency and based on the results of the IFRC-DREF for Assessment, the National Society launched an Operations Update in March 2023 to provide support to families affected by the earthquake and floods.