Scenes of Ruin After Ecuador Earthquake Kills Hundreds

At least 230 people were killed and hundreds more were wounded in one of the strongest earthquakes to strike Ecuador in decades (By REUTERS)

Story by NY Times
Written by Maggy Ayala and Nicholas Casey

QUITO, Ecuador — The strongest earthquake to strike Ecuador in decades left the Andean nation traumatized on Sunday, with collapsed buildings in a swath of destruction stretching hundreds of miles.

At least 272 people were killed and 2,527 injured, mostly in the northwestern coastal area of Manabí, the government said.

President Rafael Correa cut short a visit to Europe and declared a national emergency after the 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck on Saturday night, shaking the central coast. The effects could be felt in the capital, Quito, and into parts of Peru and Colombia.

Portoviejo, the provincial capital of Manabí, and Pedernales, a resort town, appeared to have sustained the most damage, with about 370 buildings destroyed.

Viviana Baquezea, 34, a florist, was driving back to her home in Portoviejo, accompanied by her parents and an employee, when the earthquake struck. They were met by a scene of destruction.

“It looks like a war zone,” Ms. Baquezea said by telephone from Portoviejo. “It’s incredible what was happened to us — that our city is destroyed and we’re experiencing such anguish and pain.”

“We don’t have food or water, there are no supermarkets, and we’re surviving with what we had in our homes,” she added.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/18/world/americas/ecuador-earthquake-deaths.html?src=mv&_r=0