Earthquake hits Ecuador, Peru, kills at least 15

At least 15 people have died as a result of a catastrophic earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 that struck southern Ecuador and northern Peru on Saturday.

The earthquake has trapped many individuals from both countries under rubble, but rescue crews have been deployed into streets filled with debris and fallen power lines, according to Associated Press.

According to the United States Geological Survey, the earthquake completely destroyed the nation's coastal Guayas region.

Its centre was roughly 50 miles (80 km) south of the more than 3 million-person Guayaquil metropolitan area.

Guillermo Lasso, the president of Ecuador, asked in a tweet that people maintain their composure after claiming that the earthquake had "without a doubt" caused alarm among the populace.

According to a statement from the president's office, two of the fatalities died in the highlands province of Azuay and twelve of the victims perished in the coastal state of El Oro. According to the authorities, 126 persons at least suffered injuries.

The collapse of her home in the Tumbes region, close to the Ecuadorian border, caused a four-year-old child to sustain head trauma, according to the prime minister of Peru, Alberto Otárola.

According to Ecuador's emergency response service, one of the Azuay victims in the Andes town of Cuenca was a passenger in a car that was hit by falling debris from a house.

People were reportedly trapped under debris in the coastal region of El Oro, according to the agency. A pier broke way, a building's walls crumbled, and a two-story house in the Machala neighbourhood collapsed before residents could flee, trapping an undetermined number of people.

Schools and medical facilities were also reported damaged by Ecuador's authorities. Lasso declared he would go to El Oro on Saturday.

From Peru's northern border with Ecuador to the country's central Pacific coast, the earthquake was also felt there. There were no immediate reports of injuries or fatalities. Authorities reported that the dilapidated walls of an army barracks in Tumbes' northern region collapsed.

Particularly vulnerable to earthquakes is Ecuador. More than 600 people were murdered in a more sparsely populated section of the country in 2016 by an earthquake that was centred farther north on the Pacific Coast.

At least 15 people have died as a result of a catastrophic earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 that struck southern Ecuador and northern Peru on Saturday.

The earthquake has trapped many individuals from both countries under rubble, but rescue crews have been deployed into streets filled with debris and fallen power lines, according to Associated Press.

Source