A strong earthquake has shaken part of coastal Ecuador, killing at least four people. The region around Ecuador’s second-largest city has been impacted as the earthquake struck on Saturday (March 18), damaging homes and buildings.
The US Geological Survey reported an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 in the country’s coastal Guayas region. It was centred about 50 miles (80 kilometres) south of Guayaquil, Ecuador’s second-largest city.
Videos shared on social media show panicked people gathering on the streets of Guayaquil and nearby communities. The South American country’s emergency response agency, the Risk Management Secretariat, reported one person died in the Andean community of Cuenca. The victim was a passenger in a vehicle trapped under the rubble of a house.
People reported objects falling inside their homes in Guayaquil, part of an urban area of more than three million people about 170 miles (270 kilometres) south west of the capital, Quito. The earthquake was also felt in northern Peru.
