Deadly earthquake hits Ecuador — RT World News
A 6.7 magnitude earthquake struck Ecuador on Saturday, damaging roads, flattening buildings and killing at least four people.
The quake struck the coastal region of the Guianas around noon, the US Geological Survey reported. Its epicenter was located about 80 km (50 miles) south of Guayaquil, the country’s second largest city.
Authorities reported one death in the city of Cuenca, located inland to the east of the epicentre. The victim was traveling in a vehicle that got stuck under the rubble of a collapsing house. Three other people died when a structure collapsed on Jambeli Island, immediately south of the epicentre.
Elsewhere, the destruction of homes, commercial buildings, electrical and energy infrastructure and roads has been reported by Ecuador’s Risk Management Secretariat.
Video footage from the affected areas showed some of the damage, with clips from Cuenca appearing to capture the immediate aftermath of the death there.
The Equator lies along the junction of the Nazca and South American Plates and regularly experiences earthquakes. The strongest in recent years was in 2016, which recorded a magnitude of 7.8 and hit the northwest coast of the country near the town of Muisne. It killed at least 675 people and injured more than 16,000, while causing around $3 billion in damage.
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