When there is a quake in Japan you will find often other quakes happening in south America or the U.S. because the tectonic plates move in a quake and this changes things in the U.S. or South America often too. Also, Tsunamis caused by quakes Anywhere in the pacific Region can mess up any area in the Pacific region. So, before there were early warning systems in place sometimes 10s of thousands of people would die in tsunamis around the pacific ocean region.
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Ecuador Searches for Victims After Powerful Quake
| Wall Street Journal | - |
Ecuador
was reeling Sunday after its strongest earthquake in decades killed
hundreds and destroyed buildings, bridges and roads. President Rafael
Correa said at least 233 people died in the magnitude 7.8 quake, the
strongest in Ecuador since 1979.
Ecuador Searches for Victims After Powerful Quake
At least 233 people were killed and many more are believed to be trapped in rubble
ENLARGE
Rescue workers and
military personnel on Sunday search for survivors in Pedernales,
Ecuador, after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the area late Saturday.
More than 200 people were killed and many more are believed to be
trapped in rubble
Photo:
European Pressphoto Agency
President Rafael Correa said at least 233 people died in the magnitude 7.8 quake, the strongest in Ecuador since 1979. Another 1,557 people were injured.
Mr. Correa, who was returning to Ecuador after cutting short an official visit to the Vatican, said the government’s priority was to rescue people still trapped in the rubble of collapsed buildings.
“The entire country has been mobilized,” Mr. Correa said Sunday on his Twitter account. He said the situation was particularly “grave” in the coastal towns of Portoviejo and the popular tourist spot of Pedernales.
Diego Castellanos, a spokesman for the Red Cross in Ecuador, said the number of fatalities was expected to increase. Mr. Castellanos said in Pedernales, which has about 50,000 residents, about 80% of homes were destroyed or in bad condition. He said that 40% of the larger buildings collapsed.
“I don’t want to think that there are going to be thousands [of deaths], but we believe that it is going to increase basically because they haven’t been able to get into the collapsed buildings yet,” he said.
The earthquake rattled the country late Saturday, raising initial concerns about a tsunami in Ecuador and neighboring Peru. The U.S. Geological Survey said that the quake’s epicenter was about 17 miles southeast of Muisne, a coastal city located in northwestern Ecuador.
The quake was felt as far away as the capital Quito, located in the Andes about 106 miles east of the epicenter. In Guayaquil, Ecuador’s largest city and home to its biggest port, a bridge collapsed, crushing one person, while media images showed that the roof of a shopping mall had fallen in.
Guayaquil resident Yadira Yagual said the lights went out at the mall while she was working. “It was horrible at my work,” she was quoted saying by newspaper El Universo.
After the quake, many residents slept outside because of concern their homes were unsafe as aftershocks continued through the night. The country’s Geophysical Institute said it reported 154 aftershocks by early Sunday.
Gabriel Alcivar, the mayor of Pedernales, said that much of the town was flattened and people were trapped under the rubble of collapsed buildings. He told the Teleamazonas television station late Saturday that the town required urgent help.
“It isn’t just a building that collapsed, but an entire city collapsed,” he said.
“We are witnessing an enormous catastrophe,” Mr. Alcivar added. “People are trapped...and we can’t do anything.”
Vice President Jorge Glas said the government declared a state of emergency and put the country’s health system on maximum alert. Mr. Glas, who traveled to some of the hardest-hit areas early Sunday, said that 10,000 soldiers and 3,500 police were deployed to the most affected zones to maintain public order and assist in the rescue. He said early Sunday that officials were able to reinstall electricity in some areas where the quake caused a blackout.
The government also said that it has $300 million in emergency funds to support its reconstruction efforts.
“No Ecuadorean is alone,” Mr. Glas said Sunday. “We are a strong, supportive nation that is unified and that will come out of this emergency strengthened.”
Latin American and European governments expressed support for Ecuador. U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron said his government would provide “any support it can,” while Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto expressed his solidarity with the government and residents affected by the quake. Government officials in Ecuador said that Mexican experts were being sent to help with the rescue.
Canadian Foreign Minister Stéphane Dion said two Canadians died in the quake. “I extend my deepest condolences to the families, friends and loved ones of the victims,” he said in a statement. “Canadian officials at our embassy in Quito are reaching out to Canadian citizens in-country and providing assistance to Canadians affected by the earthquake.”
Write to Ryan Dube at ryan.dube@dowjones.com