‘El Inmortal’ (The Immortal), is an iconic building in the Ecuadorian city of Machala famous for its precarious look due to having an unusually narrow ground floor.
Located on the corner of Pichincha and Buenavista streets in the center of Machala, The Immortal has been defying earthquakes in Ecuador for more than 30 years. Looking at it, you would think that the slightest tremor would be enough to bring the four-storey building down, but you would be wrong. It has survived serious quakes, including one in 2023 measuring 6.5 degrees on the Richter scale, with minimal damage. It’s most famous for having the upper three floors overhanging a whopping five meters without any pillars for support. Its now legendary resistance to earthquakes despite its precarious appearance has earned it the nickname ‘The Immortal’.
The most famous building in Machala made national news headlines in Ecuador in 2023, following a 6.5-degree earthquake. Several newspapers and TV stations reported that the iconic building had tilted forward slightly and that it was at risk of collapsing. The sidewalk around the building was taped for the safety of pedestrians, and technicians from the Riska Management Secretariat were asked to inspect the building.
“We do not want false rumors, false comments. The only thing we ask of the citizens is to calm down,” Willman Sanchez, the owner of The Immortal, told El Universo in 2023. “The building meets all the requirements; it was built by engineer Jorge Manzano, the structural engineer who built the tallest buildings in Guayaquil. The building is safe!”
Sanchez told journalists that he asked the technicians to come down and inspect the building to put people’s minds at ease. People have been speculating about when or how The Immortal was going to crash for decades, because of its unusual appearance, but the building’s owner says that it has an extremely strong base and a very deep foundation.
It’s hard to argue with Sanchez. The Immortal has been standing for over three decades and has withstood at least eight serious earthquakes during that time. It’s unconventional, no doubt about it, but it’s definitely not as unsafe as it looks. The Immortal houses several businesses on its ground floor, and a number of apartments on its upper stories.