Earthquake on Peru-Ecuador border kills at least 12

Gleen Suarez Agence France-Presse Rescue teams were dispatched to streets littered with debris and downed power lines.

A powerful earthquake on Saturday left at least 13 people dead, several injured and significant damage in southern Ecuador and neighboring Peru, according to an official report.

The American Seismological Institute USGS specified that its magnitude had reached 6.8.

The Ecuadorian presidency reported on Twitter 12 deaths, including 11 in the province of El Oro and one in the province of Azuay.

In the Peruvian town of Tumbes, bordering the equator, a four-year-old girl died, hit in the head by a falling brick, according to an official report.

The earthquake struck also caused “wounded” who were taken care of by hospitals, said the Ecuadorian presidency without giving figures.

The earthquake, which caused significant material damage, occurred in 12:12 p.m. local time, with an epicenter in Balao commune at a depth of 44 kilometers, according to authorities.

The earthquake caused panic among residents who took to the streets. Buildings collapsed in several towns, including Cuenca, one of the hardest hit.

“I went out into the street because I saw people running terrified. others get out of cars,” Magaly Escandón, a seller of sewing items in this Andean city, told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Collapsed buildings, cracked walls, vehicles crushed by debris. In the historic center of Cuenca, old houses were damaged, AFP journalists reported.

The earthquake was felt in Quito, Manabi and Manta, according to testimonies on the networks social.

Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso issued a “call for calm and information through official channels” in a message on Twitter.

According to the Institute Oceanographic and Antarctic Department of the Ecuadorian Navy, the tremor “does not meet the conditions likely to generate a tsunami” in the Pacific.