My thought is that scientists have to say that there is no connection between Japan and Ecuador simply to avoid panic in peoples throughout the Pacific Rim. Whereas if you study more closely what is happening you see that plates move when there is an earthquake. So, even though you might say there is no direct connection between the quakes still there is a connection as plates move. When one plate moves it affects all adjoining tectonic plates. So, an earthquake in Japan makes it more likely that earthquakes will occur soon after in Equador or California or Alaska, for example. However, they can't say that because that would panic people throughout the Pacific Ring of Fire where earthquakes most likely can occur on earth.
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BBC News -
Ecuador earthquake: Death toll jumps as search continues
- 35 minutes ago
- From the section Latin America & Caribbean
The number of
people killed in a powerful earthquake that struck Ecuador over the
weekend has risen to about 350, the government has said.
There have been desperate scenes as rescuers and family members searched for survivors, often with bare hands.Teams from Switzerland, Spain and several Latin American countries have arrived to join the search effort.
More than 2,000 people were injured in the quake, Ecuador's most powerful in decades, which hit its Pacific coast.
Earlier, President Rafael Correa warned that the death toll was likely to rise, and said there were still people alive under the rubble of collapsed buildings.
"I fear that figure will go up because we keep on removing rubble," a shaken Mr Correa said in a televised address. "There are signs of life in the rubble, and that is being prioritised."
The president warned that the quake will cost Ecuador billions of dollars. It comes at a time when the oil-producing country is already reeling from the slump in global crude prices.
Correspondents say that while the country's energy industry survived the quake mostly intact - the main refinery of Esmeraldas was closed as a precaution - exports of bananas, flowers, cocoa beans and fish could be delayed because of impassable roads and hold-ups at ports.
Foreign Minister Guillaume Long praised those nations which had contributed to the rescue effort.
He tweeted (in Spanish) that as many as 120 mobile rescue teams would be on the ground by Tuesday morning.
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A state of emergency has been declared and some 10,000 troops and 3,500 police have been deployed in the affected areas.
In Pedernales, close to the epicentre, as many as 400 people are feared dead. Mayor Gabriel Alcivar said the "entire town" had been flattened.
"Pedernales is devastated. Buildings have fallen down, especially hotels where there are lots of tourists staying. There are lots of dead bodies," he told local media.
"We're trying to do the most we can but there's almost nothing we can do," he added, warning that looting had broken out.
Many residents of the town are due to spend Monday night sleeping outside on mattresses in muggy and tropical conditions and afraid of more aftershocks.
Firefighters throughout Monday conducted rescue operations in destroyed buildings, demanding silence so they could listen for cries for help.
Meanwhile, queues for essential supplies such as bottled water, blankets and food formed around the stadium's walls, as residents complained that electricity shortages were preventing them from using mobile phones to contact loved ones.
"There's nothing left of the houses and nowhere safe to stay," resident Betty Reyna, 44, told Reuters as she camped out with members of her family.
More than 1,000 policemen are patrolling the streets of Pedernales ahead of an expected visit by the president.
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Decaying bodies
In Portoviejo, a city of 300,000, 15km (10 miles) from the coast, rescuers rushed to search the debris of flattened buildings for survivors as residents reported the stench of decaying bodies beneath the rubble."We have already recovered three dead and we believe there are 10 to 11 people still trapped," a rescue worker, who was digging through the debris of a six-storey hotel, told AFP news agency.
Four members of the same family were killed when a building collapsed on their car, the Associated Press reported. The Quinde family had travelled to the city, where 17-year-old daughter Sayira was due to start university next week.
Elsewhere in Portoviejo, the vibrations reduced part of the city's prison to rubble, allowing 100 inmates to escape. Some were recaptured but others remained on the run, Justice Minister Ledy Zuniga said on Twitter.
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In Portoviejo, where looting was reported, about 400 residents gathered at the city's former airport to queue for water and other supplies.
The quake is Ecuador's largest since 1979. More than 130 aftershocks have followed.
The US Geological Survey said the earthquake struck at a fairly shallow depth of 19.2km (11.9 miles), about 27km from Muisne in a sparsely populated area.
The quake was also felt in neighbouring Colombia.
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