At least 15 dead after earthquake hits Ecuador and Peru

A strong earthquake shook southern Ecuador and northern Peru on Saturday, killing at least 15 people and trapping others under rubble.

Rescue teams were navigating streets littered with debris and fallen power lines after the magnitude 6.8 earthquake hit just off the Pacific coast, 50 miles south of Ecuador’s second city, Guayaquil.

One of the victims died in Peru, while 14 others died in Ecuador, where authorities also reported that at least 126 people were injured.

Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso told reporters the earthquake had “without a doubt... generated alarm in the population."

Mr Lasso's office in a statement said 12 of the victims died in the coastal state of El Oro and two in the highlands state of Azuay.

In Peru, the earthquake was felt from its northern border with Ecuador to the central Pacific coast.

Peruvian prime minister Alberto Otárola said a four-year-old girl died from head trauma she suffered in the collapse of her home in the Tumbes region, on the border with Ecuador.

One of the victims in Azuay was a passenger in a vehicle crushed by rubble from a house in the Andean community of Cuenca, according to the Risk Management Secretariat, Ecuador's emergency response agency.

In El Oro, the agency also reported that several people were trapped under rubble.

In the community of Machala, a two-story home collapsed before people could evacuate, a pier gave way and a building's walls cracked, trapping an unknown number of people.

The agency said firefighters worked to rescue people while the National Police assessed damage, their work made more difficult by downed lines that interrupted telephone and electricity service.

Machala resident Fabricio Cruz said he was in his third-floor apartment when he felt a strong tremor and saw his television hit the ground. He immediately headed out.

“I heard how my neighbours were shouting and there was a lot of noise,” said Mr Cruz, a 34-year-old photographer.

He added that when he looked around, he noticed the collapsed roofs of nearby houses. Ecuador's government also reported damages to health care centres and schools.

In Guayaquil, about 170 miles southwest of the capital, Quito, authorities reported cracks in buildings and homes, as well as some collapsed walls.

Authorities ordered the closure of three vehicular tunnels in Guayaquil, which anchors a metro area of over 3 million people.

Videos shared on social media show people gathered on the streets of Guayaquil and nearby communities. People reported objects falling inside their homes.

One video posted online showed three anchors of a show dart from their studio desk as the set shook.

They initially tried to shake it off as a minor quake but soon fled off camera. One anchor indicated the show would go on a commercial break, while another repeated, “my God, my God.”

Ecuador is particularly prone to earthquakes. In 2016, a quake centered farther north on the Pacific Coast in a more sparsely populated area of the country killed more than 600 people.

Machala student Katherine Cruz said her home shook so badly that she could not even get up to leave her room and flee to the street.

“It was horrible. I had never felt anything like this in my life,” she said.

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