A person takes a photograph of a constructing that collapsed after an earthquake shook Machala, Ecuador, on Saturday.

Jhonny Crespo/AP

conceal caption

toggle caption

Jhonny Crespo/AP

A person takes a photograph of a constructing that collapsed after an earthquake shook Machala, Ecuador, on Saturday.

Jhonny Crespo/AP

QUITO, Ecuador — A powerful earthquake shook southern Ecuador and northern Peru on Saturday, killing at the very least 14 individuals, trapping others underneath rubble, and sending rescue groups out into streets plagued by particles and fallen energy strains.

The U.S. Geological Survey reported an earthquake with a magnitude of about 6.8 that was centered simply off the Pacific Coast, about 50 miles south of Guayaquil, Ecuador’s second-largest metropolis. One of the victims died in Peru, whereas 13 others died in Ecuador, the place authorities additionally reported that at the very least 126 individuals had been injured.

Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso advised reporters the earthquake had “without a doubt … generated alarm in the population.” Lasso’s workplace in a press release stated 11 of the victims died within the coastal state of El Oro and two within the highlands state of Azuay.

In Peru, the earthquake was felt from its northern border with Ecuador to the central Pacific coast. Peruvian Prime Minister Alberto Otárola stated a 4-year-old woman died from head trauma she suffered within the collapse of her residence within the Tumbes area, on the border with Ecuador.

One of the victims in Azuay was a passenger in a automobile crushed by rubble from a home within the Andean neighborhood of Cuenca, in keeping with the Risk Management Secretariat, Ecuador’s emergency response company.

In El Oro, the company additionally reported that a number of individuals had been trapped underneath rubble. In the neighborhood of Machala, a two-story residence collapsed earlier than individuals might evacuate, a pier gave means and a constructing’s partitions cracked, trapping an unknown variety of individuals.

A police officer seems up subsequent to a automotive crushed by particles after an earthquake shook Cuenca, Ecuador, on Saturday.

Xavier Caivinagua/AP

conceal caption

toggle caption

Xavier Caivinagua/AP

A police officer seems up subsequent to a automotive crushed by particles after an earthquake shook Cuenca, Ecuador, on Saturday.

Xavier Caivinagua/AP

The company stated firefighters labored to rescue individuals whereas the National Police assessed injury, their work made harder by downed strains that interrupted phone and electrical energy service.

Machala resident Fabricio Cruz stated he was in his third-floor residence when he felt a powerful tremor and noticed his tv hit the bottom. He instantly headed out.

“I heard how my neighbors were shouting and there was a lot of noise,” stated Cruz, a 34-year-old photographer. He added that when he appeared round, he observed the collapsed roofs of close by homes.

Ecuador’s authorities additionally reported damages to well being care facilities and faculties. Lasso stated he would journey on Saturday to El Oro.

In Guayaquil, about 170 miles southwest of the capital, Quito, authorities reported cracks in buildings and houses, in addition to some collapsed partitions. Authorities ordered the closure of three vehicular tunnels in Guayaquil, which anchors a metro space of over 3 million individuals.

Videos shared on social media present individuals gathered on the streets of Guayaquil and close by communities. People reported objects falling inside their properties.

One video posted on-line confirmed three anchors of a present dart from their studio desk because the set shook. They initially tried to shake it off as a minor quake however quickly fled off digital camera. One anchor indicated the present would go on a business break, whereas one other repeated, “My God, my God.”

Luis Tomalá was fishing with others when the earthquake struck. He stated their boat started shifting “like a racehorse, we got scared, and when we turned on the radio, we heard about the earthquake.” That’s when his group, Tomalá stated, determined to remain at sea fearing a tsunami might develop.

A report from Ecuador’s Adverse Events Monitoring Directorate dominated out a tsunami risk.

Peruvian authorities stated the outdated partitions of an Army barracks collapsed in Tumbes.

Ecuador is especially prone to earthquakes. In 2016, a quake centered farther north on the Pacific Coast in a extra sparsely populated space of the nation killed greater than 600 individuals.

Machala scholar Katherine Cruz stated her residence shook so badly that she couldn’t even stand up to go away her room and flee to the road.

“It was horrible. I had never felt anything like this in my life,” she stated.