a powerful 6.5 magnitude earthquake shook to Ecuador this Saturday, leaving up to now a balance of 16 dead and more than 400 wounded, in addition to innumerable houses affected. The phenomenon was also felt and had repercussions in the northern part of Peru, although in that case without victims, and then, as usual, several followingshocks followed, some of which reached 4.8 degrees.
The tremor was registered at 12:12 p.m. this Saturday, March 18, and had its epicenter in the Ecuadorian municipality of God, regarding 44 km. deep. It should be noted that Balao is located regarding 140 km. From Guayaquil. The movement was also strongly felt in other cities such as the capital Quito, Manabí and Manta.
According to the latest report from the General Secretariat of Communication of the Presidency of Ecuador, the earthquake left a total of 14 deaths12 from the province of El Oro and others 2 from Azuay, 446 injured, 19 people affected, 180 homes damaged, 84 homes destroyed y 5 bridges destroyed.
Among all the number of collapsed and cracked buildings, it was also recorded that 80 educational establishments, 22 public assets, 32 private assets and 33 health centers were affected.
“I call for calm and information through official channels”he told Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso in this regard, who since the news broke began to visit the affected areas to assess the consequences of the earthquake.
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In this sense, the president expressed his solidarity with the families of the deceased and assured: “We will continue working throughout the weekend, All the ministries are active and have financial resources to urgently attend to this emergency“.
At this time, firefighters and police are working on the removal of debris and the search and rescue of possible survivors.
“It is a relatively high magnitude for what is available in the country. In the area of the Gulf of Guayaquil we have been having more or less since 2017 onwards around two earthquakes with a magnitude greater than 5.0 per year,” explained the director of the Ecuadorian Geophysical Institute, Mario Ruizin dialogue with FM World.
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It is worth mentioning that in the Balao area a replica of 4.8. “The largest followingshock occurred at 12:22 p.m. We have regarding eight followingshocks,” Ruiz said.
On the other hand, from the Oceanographic and Antarctic Institute of the Ecuadorian Navy they tried to bring peace of mind to the population and affirmed that the earthquake “does not meet the necessary conditions to generate a tsunami” in the Pacific Ocean.
In this context, the Pope Francisco He has expressed his condolences and solidarity with the Ecuadorian people during the traditional Angelus prayer, at the same time that he assured that he will pray for them.
On the other hand, the Peruvian city of tumbes, on the border with Ecuador, was also affected by the earthquake. There, a four-year-old girl died following a brick fell from her and hit her in the head. “Where the pool of blood is, I was playing with my other niece and a block fell on her,” said the minor’s uncle.
“People ran out, they shouted desperately, all the people got out of the cars…desperate, they ran, screamed, cried,” she told AFPa sewing items seller whose store is located in the Andean zone.
In Peru, although with less intensity, the northern and central coasts were also affected, leaving 46 injured and 12 houses damaged.
AS.
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