Most of the deaths were registered in the province of El Oro, on the border with Peru.
At least thirteen people died and another 126 were injured due to the magnitude earthquake 6.5 on the open Richter scale, that was registered this Saturday in the province of Guayas, in the coastal area of Ecuador, according to a report from the Risk Management Secretary.
According to the Government, most of the deaths were registered in the province of El Oro, on the border with Peru.
Fifty houses were affected and seven destroyed, according to a general report from the Risk Management Secretariat, which also mentioned that 17 educational units were affected, as were 31 health centers.
After the 6.5 earthquake that occurred at noon this Saturday, and which was felt in 13 of the 24 provinces of the country, three more of magnitudes 4.8 were recorded, as well as 3.7 and 3.6, with an epicenter in the extreme northeast of the Pun Island in the Gulf of Guayaquil (southwest).
Among the effects on infrastructures, the collapse of facades, broken glass and cracks in walls, among others, are reported.
Likewise, the collapse of the old cabotage wharf was recorded, damage to the YAT Club Machala, and the fall of telephone lines was recorded, and a lack of electricity in several cantons of the province of El Oro.
He Navy Oceanographic Institute reported that the earthquake did not meet the necessary conditions to generate a tsunami on the continental and insular coast of the country.
According to the public company Petroecuador, terminal facilities Martimo-Balao, Chorrillos, Monteverde, La Libertad, Deposit La Toma Loja They did not record any news.
He Esmeraldas-Quito pipeline It stopped momentarily as a precaution, but then operated again with no news.
Likewise, the Pascuales Terminal and LNG Plant, and Terminal 3 Bocas activities were suspended and evacuated as a precaution. No news was reported in the initial balance.
The airports of Guayaquil and Basin they operate without news and “the hydrocarbons sector has no news, for the moment,” he noted.
The municipality of Guayaquil, capital of the province of Guayas, indicated that there was two structural collapses, 44 architectural collapses and one slightly injured after the earthquake.
He specified that it is a partial structural collapse and 29 architectural (non-structural) collapses in the urban area; while, in the rural area it was registered: 1 structural collapse in Pun and 15 architectural collapses (11 in Pun and 4 in Tenguel) and a minor injury.
During the installation of the National Emergency Operations Committee (COE), the president of Ecuador, William Lasso, reported that his government was activated with an “emergent character” to provide the necessary attention to those affected by the earthquake.
He Integrated Security Service (ECU 911) iThey indicated that they have registered 421 emergencies nationwide, of which a total of 365 were in the city of Machala, in the province of El Oro.
RING OF FIRE
Ecuador is in the Pacific Belt or Ring of Fire which concentrates some of the most important subduction zones (collapse of tectonic plates) in the world and is the scene of strong seismic activity.
In addition to Ecuador, the Belt, which is shaped like a horseshoe, includes other countries such as Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, the United States and Canada.
Next April 16, Ecuador will remember the seventh anniversary of one of the most destructive earthquakes in its recent history, of magnitude 7.8.
That natural phenomenon, which occurred on April 16, 2016, left more than 670 dead, thousands of people affected, as well as millions in material losses.
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George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism