A coastal region of Ecuador and northern Peru has been hit by a magnitude 6.8 earthquake midday Saturday, leaving at least four people dead and resulting in some structural damage.
“I call for calm and for people to get informed through official channels,” said Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso in a tweet.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) measured the quake at magnitude 6.8, as it struck at a depth of 66.4 km (41.3 miles) about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) from the city of Balao in the province of Guayas and the Geophysics Institute of Ecuador said the initial quake was followed by two weaker aftershocks in the following hour.
However, authorities said the earthquake did not appear likely to generate a tsunami.
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In a statement released from the office of Ecuador’s Secretariat of Risk Management, a wall had collapsed onto a vehicle, killing one person, in the city of Cuenca. Three people were also killed and multiple structures collapsed, including a two-story home and a wharf, while multiple communities lost power in the community of Machala.
The Secretariat said the earthquake also led to structural damage in two other provinces, including a collapsed wall in a supermarket, and was felt in more than half of the country’s 24 provinces.
The agency said that state-run oil company Petroecuador had evacuated and suspended activities in multiple facilities out of precaution, but had not reported damage.
Peruvian authorities said that the quake was felt in the country’s northern region, and that there were no immediate reports of harm to people or structures.
Story was adapted from Reuters.
