MADRID, 18 March (EUROPA PRESS) –
At least four people were killed in an earthquake measuring 6.7 on the Richter scale that struck Ecuador’s Pacific coast this Saturday.
The Ecuadorian Government Risk Management Secretariat has confirmed three deaths so far in El Oro state and one more in Azuay state. There are also several injuries.
The earthquake was felt in thirteen provinces across the country, although the damage was centered in Guayas, Azuay, El Oro and Chimborazo, especially in cities such as Cuenca, Machala and Guayaquil.
According to the videos published on social networks, some buildings collapsed in the city of Cuenca and several areas in the city of Guayaquil were left without electricity, according to the news of the newspaper ‘El Universo’.
In Cuenca’s Historic Center, the front of a house crashed onto a vehicle, killing its driver, the first confirmed death by the earthquake.
In the state of El Oro, especially in the canton of Machala, a two-story house sank. Two people were stranded and three more died.
The landslide was felt strongly in cities such as Guayaquil, Loja, Ambato, Zamora, Cuenca, Azogues or Coca. Earthquake felt lightly in Quito. Authorities ruled out the possibility of a tsunami occurring because the necessary conditions were not met.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) determined that the epicenter of the earthquake was 6 kilometers north-northeast of the town of Baláo and 66.4 kilometers deep.
Ecuador’s National Polytechnic School Geophysics Institute (IG) confirmed an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.5 to 29.12 kilometers in Balao, Guayas province. The shaking was recorded at 12:12 local time (18:12 Spanish peninsula time).
The same body previously reported a 4.8 magnitude tremor with the epicenter at a distance of 29.26 kilometers from the town of Balao and at a depth of 24 kilometers.
Source: Noti Merica
