The strongest earthquake to hit Ecuador in decades flattened buildings and buckled highways along its Pacific coast, sending the Andean nation into a state of emergency. As rescue workers rushed in, officials said monday the quake killed at least 246 people and injured more than 2,500 along Ecuador's coast.
The magnitude-7.8 quake was centered on Ecuador's sparsely populated fishing ports and tourist beaches, 170 kilometers (105 miles) northwest of Quito, the capital.
Much damage was reported in the cities of Manta, Portoviejo and Guayaquil, which are all several hundred kilometers (miles) from the epicenter of the quake that struck shortly after nightfall Saturday. In the capital, Quito, terrified people fled into the streets as the quake shook buildings. The quake knocked out electricity in several neighborhoods and a few homes collapsed, but after a few hours power was being restored.The city's international airport was briefly closed.
Hydroelectric dams and oil pipelines in the OPEC-member nation were shut down as a precautionary measure but there were no reports of damage to them.
The U.S. 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 (12 miles). 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.
The quake was about six times as strong as the most powerful of two deadly earthquakes on the other side the Pacific, in the southernmost of Japan's four main islands and it was the strongest to hit Ecuador since 1979 and accessing the disaster zone was difficult due to landslides.