A very shallow magnitude 3.5 earthquake was reported early morning near Quito, Provincia de Pichincha, Ecuador.According to the Institute of Geophysics of the National Polytechnic School in Quito (IGEPN), the quake hit on Tuesday, August 12th, 2025, at 2:17 am local time at a very shallow depth of 5. km. Shallow earthquakes are felt more strongly than deeper ones as they are closer to the surface. The exact magnitude, epicenter, and depth of the quake might be revised within the next few hours or minutes as seismologists review data and refine their calculations, or as other agencies issue their report.Our monitoring service identified a second report from the citizen-seismograph network of RaspberryShake which listed the quake at magnitude 3.5 as well.Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake should not have caused any significant damage, but was probably felt by many people as light vibration in the area of the epicenter. Weak shaking might have been felt in Oyambarillo (pop. 8,000) located 11 km from the epicenter, and Sangolqui (pop. 5,100) 12 km away.Other towns or cities near the epicenter where the quake might have been felt as very weak shaking include Quito (pop. 2,781,600) located 21 km from the epicenter, Pomasqui (pop. 28,700) 29 km away, Machachi (pop. 25,700) 35 km away, and Cayambe (pop. 26,600) 43 km away. In Otavalo (pop. 32,300, 59 km away), Atuntaqui (pop. 17,500, 70 km away), and Pujili (pop. 16,200, 84 km away), the quake was probably not felt.Earthquake data: Date & time: Aug 12, 2025 02:17 am (GMT -5) local time (12 Aug 2025 07:17 GMT)Magnitude: 3.5Depth: 5.00 kmEpicenter latitude / longitude: 0.29°S / 78.35°W (Provincia de Pichincha, Ecuador)Primary data source: IGEPN