A strong earthquake was registered this Saturday at noon with an epicenter on the border of
Ecuador and Peru
.
It reached magnitude 7 and caused
the death of at least thirteen people, including a 4-year-old girl
.
"So far, 12 deaths have been reported (11 in the province of El Oro and one in the province of Azuay)," the Ecuadorian presidency reported in a tweet.
While the little girl who died was a native of Tombes, the Peruvian city most affected by land movement.
The tremor was registered at 12 noon, local time, and had its epicenter in the Ecuadorian municipality of Balao, about 140 kilometers from the port of Guayaquil, and at a depth of 44 kilometers, authorities reported.
In the south of the Ecuadorian country, it was felt strongly and people took to the streets in panic, while some walls collapsed in cities like Cuenca, one of the most affected.
After the first earthquake, another one of magnitude 4.8 occurred at a depth of 24 kilometers, according to the Institute.
The earthquake left damage in southern Ecuador.
AP Photo
Collapsed buildings, cracked walls, vehicles crushed by debris.
In the historic center of Cuenca there was damage to some old houses, reported journalists from the AFP agency.
"It is a relatively high magnitude for what we have in the country. In the area of the Gulf of Guayaquil we have been having more or less from 2017 onwards around two earthquakes with a magnitude greater than 5.0 per year," Mario said. Ruiz, director of the Ecuadorian Geophysical Institute in an interview with FM Mundo radio.
According to the Ecuadorian Risk Management Secretariat, in Cuenca the façade of a house collapsed on a vehicle and left "one person dead."
Nearby, in the province of El Oro, three deaths were recorded from the fall of a tower.
The earthquake was also felt strongly in Peru, mainly in the city of Tumbes, where 12 homes were reported affected, 4 disabled, and another 2 affected health centers.
Later, the National Emergency Operations Center (COEN) reported the death of the little girl: "The death of a 4-year-old minor is confirmed, who was transferred to the Regional Hospital of Tumbes, after being injured as a result of the fall
of part of a roof of his dwelling
."
In that city, in the north of the country, citizens quickly took to the streets as a security measure, while other people reported on social networks that the earthquake was also felt in the regions of La Libertad and Áncash, more than 500 kilometers to the east. south of Tumbes.
The provincial mayor of Zarumilla, Christian Aguayo, told the RPP radio station that this has been "
the strongest tremor I have been able to witness in my entire life
. "
In this regard, the National Emergency Operations Center (COEN) reported that first response units together with local authorities began the review of vulnerable areas, without reporting, so far, structural damage or damage to the population.
The structure that collapsed and fell on the driver of a vehicle.
Photo Reuters.
After the strong movements in the north of Peru, the Directorate of Hydrography and Navigation assured on Twitter that a tsunami alert has not been generated on the coasts of the Pacific Ocean.
The Civil Defense Institute (Indeci) also did not report preliminary damage, but it did detail a series of security measures that the population must follow in these emergencies.
He added that through the COEN, he coordinates with regional and local authorities, monitors the situation and urges the local emergency operations centers to be kept active.
Peru and Ecuador are located in the area called the Pacific Ring of Fire, where approximately 85% of the world's seismic activity is recorded.
With information from EFE
DB
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