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(CNN)The catastrophic earthquake that destroyed buildings in Ecuador on …
Ecuador earthquake: Death toll jumps to 238; more than 1,500 wounded
Story highlights
- Death toll rises to 238, national emergency management office says
- Lack of water and communication remains a big problem, authorities say
- Residents thought the quake was "going to be the end of the world," one man says
(CNN)The catastrophic earthquake that destroyed buildings in Ecuador on Saturday became far more devastating Sunday, when the death toll soared to 238 -- and it's expected to rise.
At least 1,500 people were injured, said Ricardo Peñaherrera of Ecuador's national emergency management office.
"It
was the worst experience of my life," survivor Jose Meregildo said
Sunday about the tremors that violently shook his house in Guayaquil,
300 miles away from the quake's epicenter.
"Everybody in my neighborhood was screaming saying it was going to be the end of the world."
13 photos: 7.8-magnitude quake hits Ecuador
Residents remain on the streets for fear of aftershocks in Pedernales on April 17.
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13 photos: 7.8-magnitude quake hits Ecuador
Rescue workers try to pull out survivors trapped in a collapsed building in Manta on April 17.
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13 photos: 7.8-magnitude quake hits Ecuador
Police check out a car crushed under a collapsed overpass in Guayaquil.
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13 photos: 7.8-magnitude quake hits Ecuador
Rescue workers stand near a destroyed car in Guayaquil.
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13 photos: 7.8-magnitude quake hits Ecuador
Residents walk on a street amid destroyed buildings in Guayaquil on April 16.
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13 photos: 7.8-magnitude quake hits Ecuador
An hotel leans after the earthquake in Manta on April 16.
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13 photos: 7.8-magnitude quake hits Ecuador
Damage is seen inside a store in Guayaquil on April 16.
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13 photos: 7.8-magnitude quake hits Ecuador
People
make their way through debris from a collapsed building in Pedernales
on Sunday, April 17. A magnitude-7.8 quake struck off Ecuador's central
coast on Saturday, April 16, flattening buildings and buckling highways.
It's the deadliest quake to strike the South American country in
decades.
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13 photos: 7.8-magnitude quake hits Ecuador
A building has collapsed in Portoviejo on April 17.
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13 photos: 7.8-magnitude quake hits Ecuador
People search through the rubble of destroyed homes in Pedernales on April 17.
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13 photos: 7.8-magnitude quake hits Ecuador
A destroyed vehicle lies under debris in Portoviejo on April 17.
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13 photos: 7.8-magnitude quake hits Ecuador
A man takes in the damage in Portoviejo on April 17.
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13 photos: 7.8-magnitude quake hits Ecuador
A rescue worker searches a destroyed house in Pedernales on April 17.
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13 photos: 7.8-magnitude quake hits Ecuador
Residents remain on the streets for fear of aftershocks in Pedernales on April 17.
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13 photos: 7.8-magnitude quake hits Ecuador
Rescue workers try to pull out survivors trapped in a collapsed building in Manta on April 17.
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13 photos: 7.8-magnitude quake hits Ecuador
Police check out a car crushed under a collapsed overpass in Guayaquil.
Hide Caption
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13 photos: 7.8-magnitude quake hits Ecuador
Rescue workers stand near a destroyed car in Guayaquil.
Hide Caption
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13 photos: 7.8-magnitude quake hits Ecuador
Residents walk on a street amid destroyed buildings in Guayaquil on April 16.
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13 photos: 7.8-magnitude quake hits Ecuador
An hotel leans after the earthquake in Manta on April 16.
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13 photos: 7.8-magnitude quake hits Ecuador
Damage is seen inside a store in Guayaquil on April 16.
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13 photos: 7.8-magnitude quake hits Ecuador
People
make their way through debris from a collapsed building in Pedernales
on Sunday, April 17. A magnitude-7.8 quake struck off Ecuador's central
coast on Saturday, April 16, flattening buildings and buckling highways.
It's the deadliest quake to strike the South American country in
decades.
Hide Caption
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13 photos: 7.8-magnitude quake hits Ecuador
A building has collapsed in Portoviejo on April 17.
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13 photos: 7.8-magnitude quake hits Ecuador
People search through the rubble of destroyed homes in Pedernales on April 17.
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13 photos: 7.8-magnitude quake hits Ecuador
A destroyed vehicle lies under debris in Portoviejo on April 17.
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13 photos: 7.8-magnitude quake hits Ecuador
A man takes in the damage in Portoviejo on April 17.
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13 photos: 7.8-magnitude quake hits Ecuador
A rescue worker searches a destroyed house in Pedernales on April 17.
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13 photos: 7.8-magnitude quake hits Ecuador
Residents remain on the streets for fear of aftershocks in Pedernales on April 17.
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The magnitude-7.8 earthquake
hit Saturday night as it buckled homes and knocked out power in
Guayaquil, Ecuador's most populous city, authorities said. Emergency
officials recovered one body from the scene of a bridge collapse there.
"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."
Vice President Jorge Glas had said earlier the death toll is expected to rise.
CNN Map
Epicenter of earthquake
A
state of emergency is in effect for six provinces -- Guayas, Manabi,
Santo Domingo, Los Rios, Esmeraldas and Galapagos. Authorities urged
those who left their homes in coastal areas to return after a tsunami
alert was lifted.
Ecuadorian
President Rafael Correa was expected to arrive Sunday in the country
after returning from a Vatican conference in Rome, the vice president
said in a televised address.
The deadly earthquake moved the Vatican to speak out on the devastation.
During
his Sunday prayer, Pope Francis asked for those present to pray for the
people affected by the earthquakes in Ecuador and Japan.
"Last
night a violent earthquake hit Ecuador, causing numerous victims and
great damages," Francis said. "Let's pray for those populations, and for
those of Japan, where as well there has been some earthquakes in the
last days. The help of God and of the brothers give them strength and
support."
Nightlife venues closed
Ecuador earthquake: Death toll soars 01:33
Ecuador's Interior Ministry ordered all nightlife venues in affected areas closed for the next 72 hours.
Also,
the nation's soccer federation said it has suspended the remaining
matches of the current round of the Ecuadorian championship.
All
mobile operators are allowing free text messages for customers to reach
out to loved ones in Manabi and Esmeraldas provinces, Glas said.
In a race to help residents, Ecuador deployed 10,000 soldiers and 4,600 police officers to the affected areas, he said.
Two portable hospitals have been mobilized to the cities of Pedernales and Portoviejo, authorities said.
The Ecuadorian Armed Forces took to Twitter with images of the mobile hospitals in areas hardest hit by the earthquake.
The tremor was centered 27
kilometers (16.8 miles) southeast of the coastal town of Muisne,
according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
It's the deadliest earthquake to hit the nation since March 1987 when a 7.2-magnitude temblor killed 1,000 people, according to the USGS.
The
earthquake left shoppers shaken in Guayaquil. Video footage from a
store showed kitchen utensils swinging back and forth as some items
tumbled off shelves.
Some areas in the city lost power.
There
were no immediate reports of damage or injuries in the capital of
Quito, 173 kilometers (108 miles) from the quake epicenter.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the tsunami threat following the earthquake has "mostly passed."
An earlier warning for other nations with coastlines on the Pacific was canceled.
Japan quakes
The deadly earthquake in Ecuador follows two deadly temblors in Japan last week.
Forty-one
people were killed when a magnitude-6.2 earthquake jolted the Kyushu
region Thursday, followed by a magnitude-7.0 in the same area Saturday,
authorities said.
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