At least one person has died in Ecuador after the earthquake of magnitude 6.5 on the Richter scale, which was recorded this Saturday in the province of Guayas, in the coastal area of Ecuador, and which has caused several material damages.
According to the Geophysical Institute of the National Polytechnic School, the earthquake occurred at 12:11 local time (17:12 GMT) at 2.78 degrees south latitude and 79.93 degrees west longitude. The tremor occurred at a depth of 44 kilometers, and 29.12 kilometers from Balao (Guayas), in southwestern Ecuador. After the first earthquake there was another of magnitude 4.8 at a depth of 24 kilometers, according to the Institute.
The Risk Management Secretariat indicated that damages have been detected in the cantonal center of the Andean city of Cuenca, where the facade of a house collapsed on a vehicle, of which a deceased person is reported.
The Geophysical Institute received reports from the population that felt the earthquake in the province of El Oro, on the border with Peru, and also in that of Loja, as well as on the coast of Manabí and in the Amazon of Zanora Chinchipe.
The Oceanographic Institute of the Navy (Inocar) pointed out that the earthquake does not meet the conditions to cause a tsunami. EFE verified that in the center of the coastal city of Guayaquil some debris fell from old houses.
Shortly after the earthquake occurred, the state oil company, Petroecuador, indicated that it had no records of developments in its facilities and indicated that "the protocol for these cases was complied with and the operation continues normally."
The Risk Secretariat indicated that no news has been reported at the airports. Ecuador is located 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.
On April 16, Ecuador will remember the seventh anniversary of one of the most destructive earthquakes in its recent history, of magnitude 7.8, which caused more than 670 deaths, affected thousands, as well as millions in material losses.
This earthquake hit the provinces of Esmeraldas (on the border with Colombia) and its neighbor Manabí with intensity, but it also affected other areas and was felt strongly even in Quito.
