Ecuador: dead and heavy property damage as a result of a strong earthquake

At least four people were killed by him earthquakemagnitude 6.8 that occurred in Ecuador and northern Peru, with damage to many buildings.

Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso urged citizens to remain calm and “obtain information from official sources” in a Twitter post.

According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the earthquake had a magnitude of 6.8 (6.7 according to the Euro-Mediterranean Seismological Center) and occurred from a source at a depth of 66.4 kilometers. Its epicenter was located at a distance of about 10 kilometers from the city of Balao, in the province of Gaya.

“We ran out into the street … we were very scared”

A statement from the Secretariat for Disaster Management said that in the city of Cuenca, a wall collapsed and crushed a car, killing one person. In the Matsala community, three people died, several buildings collapsed, and several villages were left without electricity.

Damage was also reported in other provinces, including a supermarket where a wall collapsed.

According to the Secretariat, the state oil company Petroecuador has suspended operations and evacuated many of its facilities as a precautionary measure.

“We all ran outside … we were very scared,” said Ernesto Alvarado, a resident of Isla Punia, an island near the epicenter where several houses collapsed.

The initial earthquake was followed by two smaller aftershocks.

In Peru, the quake was felt in the northern provinces, but there are currently no reports of damage or casualties.

^{Source: APE-MEB, Reuters}