A strong earthquake rocked the southern coastal area of Ecuador and the north of Peru this Saturday, caused at least four deaths and structural damage in several cities, according to preliminary reports from the authorities.
The Secretariat of Risk Management of Ecuador confirmed a deceased in the city of Cuenca -310 kilometers south of Quito-, when the facade of a house collapsed on a vehicle that was circulating in the street, and three dead in the town of Machala. In addition, he reported that damages were registered in four provinces of the country.
The United States Geological Survey reported the earthquake of magnitude 6.8 in the coastal region of Guayas. It had its epicenter about 80 kilometers south of Guayaquil, the second largest city in Ecuador, where preliminarily reported buildings and houses cracked, broken glass, some walls fallen, and shops that closed for fear of aftershocks.
“After the earthquake occurred and various damages to structures occurred, I have summoned the National COE (Emergency Operations Center) (…). We will execute actions immediately,” the Ecuadorian president wrote. William Lasso on his Twitter account.
The authorities have also ordered the closure of three road tunnels that allow vehicular movement between various sectors of Guayaquil. Videos of partially collapsed houses in Cuenca and Machala, where one of its piers sank due to the earthquake.
The earthquake occurred at 12:53 p.m. (17:53 GMT) in an area located near the puna islandwith very low population density, and was felt in northern Peru.
“We ran out into the streets, this situation was very ugly. We were very scared, we are close to the epicenter, the scare was great, ”he told Reuters Ernesto Alvarado, inhabitant of the Ecuadorian island of Puná.
The Risk Management Secretariat also said that three facilities of the state-owned Petroecuador (Terminal Pascuales, LNG plant and Terminal 3 Bocas) preventively suspended their activities and were evacuated. “The hydrocarbons sector does not record news, for the moment,” he said.
On the other hand, the Geophysical Institute of Peru (IGP) reported that the strong earthquake reached a magnitude 7 in Peruvian territory and that a first aftershock of magnitude 4.1 was felt ten minutes later in the Peruvian region of Tumbes.
The National Seismological Center of Peru ruled out the generation of a tsunami by the earthquake.
Peruvian media showed images of the moment of the earthquake in avenues and shopping centers in Tumbes, where some material damage was reported, such as the fall of a watchtower of an old military barracks.
In Tumbes, citizens quickly took to the streets as a security measure, while other people reported on social networks that the earthquake It was also felt in the regions of La Libertad and Áncash, more than 500 kilometers south of Tumbes.
In this regard, the National Emergency Operations Center of Peru (COEN) reported that first response units together with local authorities began the review of vulnerable areas, without reporting, so far, fatalities or structural damage.
Ecuador and Peru are located in the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, a zone of extensive telluric activity which stretches along the west coast of the American continent.
The Belt, which is shaped like a horseshoe, also includes other countries such as Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, the United States and Canada.
On April 16, Ecuador will remember the seventh anniversary of one of the most destructive earthquakes of its recent history, of magnitude 7.8. This natural phenomenon, which occurred on April 16, 2016, left more than 670 dead, thousands affected, as well as material losses of millions.
This earthquake hit the provinces of Esmeraldas (on the border with Colombia) and its neighbor Manabí, both located on the coast of the Andean country, but it also affected other areas and was felt strongly, even in the Ecuadorian capital, Quito, located in the province of Pichincha, in the Andean zone of the country.
With information from AFP, AP, EFE and Reuters
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