It could detonate a supervolcan, 16 million people at risk.

An earthquake has struck Ecuador and sparked fears that the country's supervolcanan can strike and risk 16 million lives.

The quake, measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale, struck near the city of Palora, about 5 o'clock in the morning (11am in the United Kingdom).

The quake has sparked fear that the deadly supervolcan at Callupas can strike and wipe out 16.3 million of the country's population.

A senior scientist warned whether the volcano explodes” would almost completely destroy the majority of Ecuador's current population”.

Boffin, Theofilos Toulkeridis, added: “in fact only 5% at most could survive along with the Galapagos population”.

Whether the earthquake caused any damage or injury is unknown.

But it is not unusual to see earthquakes in this part of the world, as South America lies in the so - called Fire Ring.

This is a generation surrounding the Pacific basin and is prone to frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

It has been estimated that the mountain's last explosion was around 200,000 years ago.

The news comes after the Daily Star Online found out California was told to prepare for the worst”” following Mexico's recent quake after the last deadly earthquake.