The 1998 Bahía de Caráquez earthquake occurred on August 4 at 13:59 local time (18:59 UTC) with a magnitude Mw 7.2.

In Bahía de Caráquez, electricity, telephone, and water services disrupted, and many buildings were damaged.

[2][3] An Mw  5.4 foreshock occurred 1 hour and 24 minutes before the main shock and hence alerted many people.

[4] Since March 1997, Wawa Pichincha, 12 km to the west of Quito, began a period of unrest.

Three days after the Bahía de Caráquez earthquake, on August 7, 1998, a moderate phreatic eruption occurred in Wawa Pichincha.