High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The 1949 Ambato earthquake was the largest earthquake in the Western Hemisphere in more than five years. 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 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.