At least one person died in Ecuador after the earthquake of magnitude 6.5 on the Richter scale registered, this Saturday, in the province of Guayas and that was also felt in the north of Peru, causing several material damages.
According to the Geophysical Institute of the National Polytechnic School, the tremor occurred at 12:11 pm (local time, 2:12 pm Brasilia time) at 2.78 degrees south latitude and 79.93 degrees west longitude, at a depth of 44 kilometers and at 29, 12 kilometers from Balao (Guayas), in the southwest of Ecuador. After the first earthquake, another of magnitude 4.8 occurred at a depth of 24 kilometers, according to the Institute.
In Peruvian territory, the first tremor reached a magnitude 7 on the Richter scale, according to a report by the Geophysical Institute of Peru (IGP), and the second had a magnitude of 4.1, with an epicenter 84 kilometers northeast of Zarumilla and a depth of 75 kilometers. .
Ecuador’s Risk Management Secretariat indicated that damage had been reported in the cantonal center of the Andean city of Cuenca, where the facade of a house collapsed onto a vehicle, of which one death was confirmed. Three other deaths were confirmed later.
The tremor was felt strongly, including in the Ecuadorian capital, Quito, in the Andean region of the country.
The Geophysical Institute received reports from the population that felt the earthquake in the province of El Oro, bordering Peru, and also in Loja, beyond the coast of Manabí and in Zamora Chinchipe, in the Amazon.
The Navy’s Oceanographic Institute (Inocar) pointed out that the earthquake does not meet the conditions to trigger a tsunami.
Agence EFE found that in the center of the coastal city of Guayaquil some debris from old houses had fallen.
Shortly after the earthquake, the state oil company Petroecuador reported that it had no records of unforeseen events at its facilities. “The protocol for these cases has been complied with and the operation continues normally,” he said.
The Secretariat for Risks reported that the operation of the airports remains normal.
On the 16th of April, Ecuador will remember the seventh anniversary of one of the most destructive earthquakes in its recent history, measuring 7.8. This natural phenomenon left more than 670 dead, thousands affected, in addition to material losses of millions.
The earthquake hit the provinces of Esmeraldas (on the border with Colombia) and its neighbor Manabí, but also affected other areas and was felt strongly, including in Quito, located in the province of Pichincha, in the Andean zone of the country.
More information from Peru
The local press showed images of the moment of the earthquake on avenues and shopping centers in Tumbes, where some material damage was reported, such as the fall of a watchtower of a former military barracks, but no personal injuries.
In Tumbes, citizens quickly took to the streets as a safety measure, while other people reported on social media that the earthquake was also felt in the regions of La Libertad and Ancash, more than 500 kilometers south of Tumbes. The mayor of the province of Zarumilla, Christian Aguayo, told radio station RPP that this was “the strongest tremor I have been able to witness in my entire life”.
In this sense, the National Emergency Operations Center (COEN) reported that the first response units together with the local authorities began the review of vulnerable areas, without reporting, so far, structural damage or damage to the population. After the strong movements in northern Peru, the Directorate of Hydrography and Navigation assured on Twitter that a tsunami warning was not generated on the coasts of the Pacific Ocean.
The National Civil Defense Institute (Indeci) also did not report the preliminary damage, but detailed a series of security measures that the population must follow in these emergencies. He added that, through COEN, it coordinates regional and local authorities, monitors the situation and calls for the maintenance of local emergency operations centres.
Peru and Ecuador are located in the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, where approximately 85% of the world’s seismic activity is recorded. Mexico, further north, reported through its National Seismological Service that it recorded 18 smaller tremors. The strongest, 4.3 points, was recorded 150 kilometers from San Jose Del Cabo, on the west coast of the country, at 10:33 am local time, 13:33 pm in Brasilia.
#Andes #earthquake #felt #Chile #Mexico #deaths #Ecuador