Ecuador Shaken After Killer Quake Leaves Mounds of Rubble

The magnitude-7.8 quake, the strongest to hit Ecuador since 1979.

A boy cries as he finds out that their sister was killed in an earthquake in Pedernales, Ecuador. (Photo: AP)

Rescuers pulled survivors from under the rubble on Sunday after the strongest earthquake to hit Ecuador in decades flattened buildings and buckled highways along its Pacific coast. Officials said the quake had killed at least 272 people and injured 2,527 more.

Vice President Jorge Glas said there were deaths in the cities of Manta, Portoviejo and Guayaquil — all several hundred kilometers from the centre of the quake struck shortly after nightfall on Saturday.

The US Geological Survey originally put the quake at a magnitude of 7.4 then raised it to 7.8. It had a depth of 19 kilometers. More than 135 aftershocks followed, one as strong as magnitude-5.6, and authorities urged residents to brace for even stronger ones in the coming hours and days.