CNN
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No less than 16 folks died after a magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck southern Ecuador on Saturday afternoon, based on authorities officers.
The earthquake struck close to the southern city of Baláo and was greater than 65 km (almost 41 miles) deep, based on the United States Geological Survey.
An estimated 381 folks had been injured within the quake, the Normal Secretariat of Communication of the Presidency of Ecuador tweeted on their official account.
Within the province of El Oro, at the least 11 folks died. No less than one different demise was reported within the province of Azuay, based on the communications division for Ecuador’s president. In an earlier assertion, authorities stated the individual in Azuay was killed when a wall collapsed onto a automobile and that at the least three of the victims in El Oro died when a safety digicam tower got here down.
Individuals who had been injured had been being handled at hospitals, the Presidency added, however didn’t present additional particulars.
The USGS gave the tremor an “orange alert,” saying “important casualties are possible and the catastrophe is doubtlessly widespread.”
“Previous occasions with this alert degree have required a regional or nationwide degree response,” the USGS added. It additionally estimated injury and financial losses had been doable.
Kin of a CNN producer within the western port metropolis of Guayaquil stated they felt “very robust” tremors.
CNN afiliate Ecuavisa reported structural injury to buildings in Cuenca, one of many nation’s largest cities. The historic metropolis is within the UN checklist of world heritage websites.
There isn’t a tsunami warning in impact for the world, based on the US National Weather Service.
The airports of Guayaquil and Cuenca remained open and operational, the nation’s assertion stated.
