The high degree of coupling across the plate boundary where the Carnegie Ridge is being subducted beneath northern Ecuador causes unusually intense intraplate deformation.

Nearby Otavalo was left without a single house standing and 6,000 people died.

[7] The relief efforts were organised by Gabriel García Moreno, who had been appointed to that role by the federal government.

[6] On 26 April each year, in the 'El Retorno' festival, Ibarra celebrates the return of the inhabitants in 1872 after a four-year absence following the earthquake.

[8] Gómez Tapias, Jorge; Montes Ramírez, Nohora E.; Almanza Meléndez, María F.; Alcárcel Gutiérrez, Fernando A.; Madrid Montoya, César A.; Diederix, Hans (2015).