Ecuador earthquake today: at least 15 dead in an earthquake south of Guayaquil

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A powerful earthquake struck southern Ecuador and northern Peru on Saturday, killing at least 12 people, trapping others under rubble, and sending rescue teams into streets strewn with rubble and downed power lines.

At least 15 people have been killed and more than 400 injured after an earthquake struck the southern coast of Ecuador, officials said.

The USGS reported a 6.8-magnitude earthquake that had its epicenter off the Pacific coast, about 50 miles (80 km) south of Guayaquil, Ecuador’s second-largest city.

In an initial update, Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso said in a televised event that the earthquake killed 12 people. In a tweet, he also asked people to remain calm.

“We will be with the entire Cabinet to deal with this emergency immediately. #CruzadaPorEcuador,” he said.

Risk Management Minister Christian Torres said in a radio interview that 11 of the victims died in the coastal state of El Oro and one in the highland state of Azuay.

The victim in the Andean community of Cuenca in Azuay was a passenger in a car that was smashed by rubble from a house, according to the Secretariat of Risk Management, the emergency response agency for the South American country.

In El Oro, the agency also reported that many were trapped under rubble. In the town of Machala, a two-storey house collapsed before people could evacuate, a sidewalk collapsed and the walls of the building cracked, trapping an unknown number of people.

The agency said firefighters worked to rescue people while the National Police assessed the damage, and their work was made more difficult by downed lines that cut telephone and electricity service.

Machala resident Fabricio Cruz said he was in his apartment on the third floor when he felt a strong jolt and saw his TV hit the floor. Head right away.

“I could hear how my neighbors were screaming and there was a lot of noise,” said Cruz, a 34-year-old photographer. He added that when he looked around, he noticed the rooftops of nearby houses collapsing.

In Guayaquil, about 170 miles (270 kilometers) southwest of the capital, Quito, authorities reported cracks in buildings and homes, as well as some collapsed walls. Authorities have ordered the closure of three car tunnels in Guayaquil, which dock in a metro area home to more than 3 million people.

Videos shared on social media show people gathered in the streets of Guayaquil and nearby communities. People have reported falling objects inside their homes.

One video posted online showed three presenters parading from their studio desk while the set shook. They initially try to dismiss it as a simple earthquake but quickly run away from the camera. One announcer implied that the show would be on commercial hiatus, while another repeated, “Oh my God, my God.”

A report from Ecuador’s Directorate for Adverse Event Control ruled out a tsunami threat.

The earthquake was also felt in Peru, from its northern border with Ecuador to the central Pacific coast. There were no immediate reports of any deaths or injuries. The authorities said the old walls of the army barracks had collapsed in the northern district of Tumbes.

Ecuador is particularly prone to earthquakes. In 2016, an earthquake centered north on the Pacific coast in a sparsely populated part of the country killed more than 600 people.

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