[ad_1]
A powerful earthquake shook the area around Ecuador’s second-largest city on Saturday, killing at least four people, destroying homes and buildings, and sending panicked residents into the streets.
The US Geological Survey reported a magnitude 6.8 earthquake in the country’s coastal Guayas region. The center is about 80 kilometers south of Guayaquil, which has a metro area of more than 3 million people.
President Guillermo Lasso tweeted a message asking residents to remain calm.
The South American country’s emergency response agency, the Secretariat of Risk Management, reported that one person died in the Andean community of Cuenca. The victim was a passenger in a vehicle that was trapped under the rubble of the house. Three other people died in the coastal state of El Oro, the agency reported.
In Guayaquil, about 270 kilometers southwest of the capital, Quito, authorities reported cracks in buildings and houses, as well as some collapsed walls. Authorities ordered the closure of three vehicle tunnels.
Videos shared on social media showed people gathering in the streets of Guayaquil and nearby communities. People report things falling on their homes.
One video posted online shows three show anchors darting from the studio table as the set shakes. At first they tried to shake it as a small earthquake but soon ran away from the camera. One anchor indicated the show would go to a commercial break, while another repeated, “My God, my God.”
The pier collapsed in Machala town. The earthquake was also felt in northern Peru.
A month after two deadly earthquakes devastated parts of Turkey and Syria, the rubble is being cleared but recovery looks distant for hundreds of thousands of displaced people.
[ad_2]
Source link