Wikipedia:Today's featured article/July 19, 2011

The 1949 Ambato earthquake was the largest earthquake in the Western Hemisphere in over a decade. On August 5, 1949, it struck Ecuador's Tungurahua Province southeast of its capital, Ambato, and killed 5,050 people. Measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale, it originated from a hypocenter 40 km (25 mi) beneath the surface. The earthquake initially followed an intersection of several northwest–southeast-trending faults in the Inter-Andean Valley, which were created by the subduction of the Carnegie Ridge. Strata of rock cracked as the earthquake ruptured the faults, sending out powerful shockwaves. The nearby villages of Guano, Patate, Pelileo, and Pillaro were destroyed, and the city of Ambato suffered heavy damage. The earthquake flattened entire buildings, and subsequent landslides caused damage throughout the Tungurahua, Chimborazo, and Cotopaxi Provinces. It disrupted water mains and communication lines and opened a fissure into which the small town of Libertad sank. Moderate shaking from the event extended as far away as Quito and Guayaquil. (more...)

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