Hundreds Dead, Thousands Injured In Massive 7.8 Earthquake In Ecuador

Hundreds Dead, Thousands Injured In Massive 7.8 Earthquake In Ecuador

Prayers up for the people of Ecuador, CNN has an update n their condition…

Rescue crews searched desperately through rubble for survivors of a magnitude-7.8 earthquake that struck coastal Ecuador.

The death toll has soared to 272, Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa said Sunday evening. That number is expected to rise as rescue teams dig through the rubble, he said.

Earlier that day, Vice President Jorge Glas had estimated that at least 2,527 people were injured.

The hardest-hit area was the coastal Manabi Province, where about 200 people died, said Ricardo Peñaherrera of Ecuador’s national emergency management office. The cities of Manta, Portoviejo and Pedernales, a tourist destination, saw the most devastation but damage was widespread throughout the country.

If the death toll and injured don’t give you an idea of how strong a 7.8 earthquake actually is…

“It was the worst experience of my life,” survivor Jose Meregildo said Sunday about the tremors that violently shook his house in Guayaquil, 300 miles away from the quake’s epicenter. “Everybody in my neighborhood was screaming saying it was going to be the end of the world.”

The earthquake hit Saturday around 7 p.m. while people were going about their evening. The tremors buckled overpasses trapping drivers. A shopping mall partially collapsed on customers and several buildings have been flattened with their content spilled into the streets.

All six coastal provinces — Guayas, Manabi, Santo Domingo, Los Rios, Esmeraldas and Galapagos — are in state of emergencies.

300 miles away. Wow. R.I.P to all those who lost their lives.

Image via AP