Ecuador earthquake kills at least four, causes widespread damage

Aljazeera reported that a strong earthquake has shaken the region around Ecuador’s second-largest city, killing at least four people, damaging homes and buildings, and sending panicked residents into the streets.

The US Geological Survey reported an earthquake on Saturday with a magnitude of 6.7 in the country’s coastal Guayas region. It was centred about 80km (50 miles) south of Guayaquil, which anchors a metro area of more than 3 million people.

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 car trapped under the rubble of a house.

In the coastal state of El Oro, three people died and several were trapped under rubble, the agency reported. 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.