6.5 magnitude earthquake kills 12 in Ecuador

A 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck Ecuador on Saturday, killing 12 people.

At least 12 people were killed in a 6.5-magnitude earthquake in southern Ecuador on Saturday, which also hit Peru, according to an official report.

“Currently we have 12 dead”, including 11 in El Oro province and one in Azue, Ecuador’s presidency said on Twitter. At least one person was injured and property damaged in the earthquake.

The earthquake, centered in southern Ecuador, also damaged several buildings. The 6.5-magnitude earthquake was recorded at 12:12 p.m. local time (1712 GMT) in the Ecuadorian municipality of Palau, 140 kilometers from the port of Guayaquil and at a depth of 44 kilometers, Ecuadorian officials said.

Several aftershocks were felt

The US Geological Survey (USGS) estimated it at 6.8 on the Richter scale, while Peruvian seismological authorities reported it as 7.0. According to the Ecuadorian Secretariat for Risk Management, one person died in Cuenca (south) and three others in the surrounding area after a building collapsed.

In Peru, Hernando Tavera, director of the National Seismological Center, told RPP radio that there were no casualties and “no significant damage.”

Aftershocks were felt and the Ecuadorian Navy’s Oceanic and Antarctic Agency assured that the tremor “did not meet the necessary conditions to generate a tsunami” in the Pacific.

Peru and Ecuador lie on the Pacific Ring of Fire, a large seismic zone that stretches along the west coast of the American continent.