[danielsan]

A powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake in Ecuador has killed at least 77 272 413 659 people and injured more than 500 27,732 , Vice-President Jorge Glas says.

The quake struck at 18:58 local time on Saturday (23:58 GMT) near the northern coastal town of Muisne.

Widespread severe damage is reported, with a bridge destroyed as far south as Guayaquil about 300km (190 miles) away.

A state of emergency has been declared in six provinces and the National Guard has been mobilised.

The quake, the country's largest in decades, also shook buildings in the capital, Quito.

President Rafael Correa is cutting short his trip to Italy to return home. He called for calm, saying on Twitter: "Our infinite love to the families of the dead."

Mr Glas said that at least 77 people had died and 588 had been injured, adding that the figures could rise as a number of affected areas had not yet been reached.

He called for calm, particularly in the city of Portoviejo, amid reports of a "lack of public order".

Gabriel Alcivar, mayor of the town of Pedernale, which is close to the epicentre, said: "We're trying to do the most we can but there's almost nothing we can do."

He said dozens of buildings had been flattened and looting had broken out.

"This wasn't just a house that collapsed, it was an entire town," Mr Alcivar said.

Carla Peralto, a resident of Boyaca, one of the worst-affected areas, told the BBC: "I never felt something like that in my life. It was so strong. I was feeling very, very scared... I was thinking 'God, please stop that because maybe I die today'."

Serious damage was also reported in the city of Manta, with an airport tower among the buildings destroyed.

Manta resident Ramon Solorzano told Reuters: "Most people are out in the streets with backpacks on, heading for higher ground. The streets are cracked. The power is out and phones are down."

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.There have been a number of aftershocks, the biggest at 5.4.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre has now issued a message saying that the threat of a tsunami has now mostly passed and that any remaining risk should be evaluated by local authorities.

However, it earlier said tsunami waves reaching 0.3 to one metre above the tide level were possible for some coasts of Ecuador. Any damage that had occurred might not be visible until daylight.

Quito resident Zoila Villena told the Associated Press news agency: "I'm in a state of panic. My building moved a lot and things fell to the floor. Lots of neighbours were screaming and kids crying," she said.

Parts of the capital were left without electricity for some time.

Reports say a big oil refinery has been temporarily shut as a precautionary measure.

Neighbouring Peru had also issued a tsunami alert for its northern coastline.

The quake was felt in Colombia, where patients in a clinic in the city of Cali were evacuated from the building as a precautionary measure.

Ecuador is prone to earthquakes. It is located along the so-called Ring of Fire, a horseshoe-shaped, seismically turbulent area of the Pacific Ocean.

Source BBC.com

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-36065551

[kellyhound]

Big quake i expected more victims with that magnitude.

[Sypher209]

We had a possible tsunami warning here on the east coast of Australia because of this earlier today, which really creeped me out because i've been learning heaps about the 2004 boxing day Indian ocean earthquake and tsunami for the last couple of days.

I hope everything sorts itself out for everyone involved.

[kellyhound]

I'll update the OP.

Rescue crews searched desperately through rubble for survivors of a magnitude-7.8 earthquake that struck coastal Ecuador.

The death toll has soared to 272, Ecuador's President Rafael Correa said Sunday evening.

That number is expected to rise as rescue teams dig through the rubble, he said.

Earlier that day, Vice President Jorge Glas had estimated that at least 2,527 people were injured.

[kellyhound]

a vid from some couple's apartment and a vid from the Hospital.

[Imlatinoguy]

I'm from there, most of the houses are made of reinforced concrete and not wood like here in the US.

[kellyhound]

413 dead so far and 231 missing.

One of the dead is an Irish nun.

Sister Clare Theresa Crockett, 33, died when a stairwell collapsed in the school she was working at in Playa Prieta. She gave up a lifestyle of drinking and partying to become a nun and help the poor.

Sister Clare, from Derry city, was a nun in the Home of the Mother order and had been teaching children in a rural part of the country, including how to play the guitar.

Her family paid a glowing tribute to her.
"She was a superstar. Everybody loved her," her cousin Emmet Doyle said.

Sister Clare died along with a number of local girls in the school.

Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan has offered his condolences to Sister Clare's family.

“I want to offer my deepest sympathies and condolences to the family of Sister Clare Crockett who was killed in Ecuador on Saturday.

The tributes paid to Sister Crockett since the weekend are a testament to the difference she made to the lives of the community she served.

My Department is providing consular assistance to her family.”

“On behalf of the Government and people of Ireland, I also want to extend our sincere condolences to the people of Ecuador on the tragic and heavy loss of life from Saturday’s devastating earthquake.

Our thoughts are with the families of all those who were killed as they mourn their loss.”

[Imlatinoguy]

They say there are dead bodies everywhere, people walking often have to step over them. You could smell the rotting bodies, many people walking and throwing up.

[Emperor Wang]

Dare you even imagine if this where to happen in Russia. All those poor unopened bottles of Vodka would soon be smashed laying waste their insides for no one to enjoy.

[kellyhound]

Ecuador has been hit again by a earthquake last night less than a week after a huge 7.8 magnitude quake devastated the area and killed 587 people.

The quake last night had a 6.0 magnitude.

The latest quake struck at 3am, 20 miles off the Ecuadorian coastline near the city of Bahía de Caráquez.

According to the USGS, the tremor occured at a depth of six miles, 100 miles from Portoviejo where the quake on Saturday had the biggest impact.