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(CNN)The death toll from Saturday's magnitude-7.8 earthquake in Ecuador …
Ecuador earthquake: 602 dead; emergency tax measures introduced
Story highlights
- Ecuador now says 602 people are dead from Saturday quake
- Risk Management office also reports 130 missing, 12,492 injured
- Citing state of emergency, Ecuador's president announces tax increase
(CNN)The
death toll from Saturday's magnitude-7.8 earthquake in Ecuador swept
past 600 Friday evening, surpassing an unwanted milestone in the worst
disaster the country has seen in decades.
At
least 602 people are now known to have died in the quake, according to
Ecuador's Risk Management Office. The agency also reported that 130
people remain missing, and 12,492 injured. It also announced that almost
26,091 people remain in shelters.
Most
of the deaths came from three towns in coastal Ecuador: Manta,
Portoviejo and Pedernales, according to statistics provided by the
office.
In an effort to boost
reconstruction efforts, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa announced a
series of financial measures, including a tax increase, on prime time
television.
"Rebuilding the affected areas will take years and cost millions of dollars," he said. "The short term costs are significant."
He
announced a raft of short-term and one-time tax measures, including a
sales tax increase for one year. He also said that the government will
sell some of its assets.
Aftershocks
The news comes amid continued shaking in the South American nation. An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.1 struck off the coast of Ecuador early Wednesday, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.
There
were no immediate reports of damage or injuries from that quake, which
hit 20 miles west of the coastal city of Muisne. That's very near the
site of Saturday's quake -- the deadliest in Ecuador since a 1987 quake
that killed 1,000 people.
The
lesser earthquakes -- 23 in all since Saturday, according to the USGS --
come as the country is trying to deal with its worst disaster in
decades, Defense Minister Ricardo Patiño said Tuesday.
"We're
facing the most difficult phase right now, which is rescuing victims
and recovering bodies," Patiño said. "We're removing debris, and we will
very likely find more bodies. It's going to take us years to recover
from this."
Rescue crews and aid
from Latin America and beyond have poured into the South American nation
since Saturday's earthquake, which caused widespread damage throughout
the country, but especially on the coast.
Tourist areas among hardest hit
The
hardest-hit area of the South American nation was the coastal Manabi
Province, said Ricardo Peñaherrera of Ecuador's national emergency
management office. There were at least dozens and perhaps hundreds of collapsed buildings there, Patiño said.
Images
from around the country posted on social media by local authorities and
CNN crews in the field showed huge piles of rubble, collapsed roads and
rescuers rushing to help.
In
Pedernales, a beautiful tourist city on the Pacific coast, the
otherwise-stunning view out across the ocean is marred by the
destruction from the shoreline, reaching back throughout the city.
A
restaurant sits destroyed. Behind it is a five-story hotel, where
rescuers have already recovered five bodies. Evidence of others trapped
in the rubble brought a rush of help to the site, but as yet they
haven't found anyone else alive there.
On
Tuesday, while CNN was reporting from the city, another magnitude-5.5
aftershock brought back memories and further unnerved people.
Those who had escaped the initial tremor fled again, and rescue workers had to put down tools to make sure others were safe.
Waiting, grateful to have survived
Elsewhere,
residents struggled to recover amid the devastation. One two-story
residence was brought down to one -- the lower floor completely
flattened.
The family on the first
floor wasn't home at the time. Those on the upper floor felt the
initial shock and were able to scramble outside before the building
collapsed.
Damage is everywhere.
"It was something very ugly. We thought it was the end of the world," one survivor in Pedernales told CNN's Gustavo Valdes on Monday
about Saturday's quake. "It started hard, way too hard. We fell. We
couldn't get up. It was too strong. ... If it had fallen the other way,
we would have died."
Victims are grateful they survived, he said, but uncertain of what to do next.
"We are waiting to see what we can do, waiting for what the President tells us," he said. "There is no work."
The
government is going door to door, conducting initial inspections and
looking for survivors and victims. Those who survived are getting by as
best they can, putting up tents and collecting basic supplies furnished
by the government.
One family
gratefully tapped into a CNN crew's power supply, their phones springing
to life, messages once again connecting them to friends and relatives.
Mobilized
Ecuador
deployed 10,000 soldiers and 4,600 police officers to the affected
areas. Hundreds of rescuers from eight countries have traveled to
Ecuador to help in relief efforts. Troops set up mobile hospitals and
temporary shelters. The military also brought in search dogs to help
find survivors and bodies.
Still, getting supplies and rescue crews to the affected areas has been a challenge.
"The lack of water and communication remains a big problem," Peñaherrera told CNN en Español.
"Many highways are in bad shape, especially in the mountainous area,
because it has been raining recently due to (the) El Niño weather
phenomenon."
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