Ecuador Earthquake: State of Emergency Declared After at least 233 Killed

Ecuador was in a state of emergency Sunday after a powerful earthquake flattened buildings and ravaged towns along the nation's northwestern coast Saturday night.

"Thank you to the whole world for solidarity," President Rafael Correa said on Twitter after announcing 233 people were killed in the quake, which was a huge leap from an earlier death toll of 77.
President Rafael Correa declared a national emergency, and said the tremblor was the strongest quake to hit Ecuador since 1979. "Our infinite love to the families of the dead," Correa said on Twitter, while cutting short a trip to Italy to return home.

States of emergency were declared for the provinces of Esmeraldas, Los Rios, Manabi, Santa Elena, Guayas and Santo Domingo. The quake was strongly felt in country's capital of Quito, around 100 miles away.

Glas said 10,000 military troops and 3,500 police have been dispatched to the affected areas. Meanwhile, the Home Ministry said five helicopters and over 80 buses were ferrying 4,000 police to the quake zone.

Authorities said landslides were making it difficult for emergency workers to reach the towns hardest hit by the earthquake.

"We're trying to do the most we can, but there's almost nothing we can do," said Gabriel Alcivar, mayor of Pedernales, a town of 40,000 near the quake's epicenter, according to the Associated Press.

Alcivar pleaded for authorities to send earth-moving machines and emergency rescue workers as dozens of buildings in the town were flattened, trapping residents among the rubble. He said looting had broken out amid the chaos but authorities were too busy trying to save lives to re-establish order.
"This wasn't just a house that collapsed, it was an entire town," he said.

NOAA's Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said tsunami waves up to 3 feet above tide level were possible for some coastal areas of Ecuador, but later said the threat had largely passed. Ecuadorians who were told to evacuate coastal areas for fear of a tsunami were later told to return home.

A smaller 4.5 magnitude quake was recorded along the coast south of Muisne about a half-hour before the magnitude-7.8 quake struck, the USGS said. At least 36 aftershocks followed, one as strong as a magnitude-6, and authorities urged residents to brace for even stronger ones in the coming hours and days.

The earthquake in Ecuador comes just days after the first of a pair of powerful and deadly quakes shook southwestern Japan. At least 41 people were killed in a magnitude-6.5 earthquake Thursday and a magnitude-7.0 earthquake Saturday, national broadcaster NHK reported.

NBC News

Last Updated 17:36pm