A strong earthquake shook southern Ecuador and northern Peru on Saturday (March 18), killing at least 14 people, trapping others under rubble, and sending rescue teams out into streets littered with debris and fallen power lines.
The US Geological Survey reported an earthquake with a magnitude of about 6.8 that was centred just off the Pacific Coast, about 50 miles (80 kilometres) south of Guayaquil, Ecuador’s second-largest city. One of the victims died in Peru, while 13 others died in Ecuador, where authorities also reported that at least 126 people were injured.
Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso told reporters the earthquake had “without a doubt … generated alarm in the population.” Lassos office in a statement said 11 of the victims died in the coastal state of El Oro and two in the highlands state of Azuay. In Peru, the earthquake was felt from its northern border with Ecuador to the central Pacific coast.
Peruvian Prime Minister Alberto Otárola said a four-year-old girl died from head trauma she suffered in the collapse of her home in the Tumbes region, on the border with Ecuador. One of the victims in Azuay was a passenger in a vehicle crushed by rubble from a house in the Andean community of Cuenca, according to the Risk Management Secretariat, Ecuador’s emergency response agency.
In El Oro, the agency also reported that several people were trapped under rubble. In the community of Machala, a two-story home collapsed before people could evacuate, a pier gave way and a buildings walls cracked, trapping an unknown number of people. The agency said firefighters worked to rescue people while the National Police assessed the damage, their work made more difficult by downed lines that interrupted telephone and electricity service.
Machala resident Fabricio Cruz said he was in his third-floor apartment when he felt a strong tremor and saw his television hit the ground. He immediately headed out. “I heard how my neighbours were shouting and there was a lot of noise,” said Cruz, a 34-year-old photographer. He added that when he looked around, he noticed the collapsed roofs of nearby houses.
Ecuador’s government also reported damages to healthcare centres and schools. Lasso said he would travel on Saturday to El Oro. In Guayaquil, about 170 miles (270 km) southwest of the capital, Quito, authorities reported cracks in buildings and homes, as well as some, collapsed walls. Authorities ordered the closure of three vehicular tunnels in Guayaquil, which anchors a metro area of over 3 million people.
Videos shared on social media show people gathered on the streets of Guayaquil and nearby communities. People reported objects falling inside their homes. One video posted online showed three anchors of a show dart from their studio desk as the set shook. They initially tried to shake it off as a minor quake but soon fled off-camera.