Ecuador counts over 400 quake deaths, damage in the billions

(Agencies) Updated: 2016-04-19 10:52

A municipal employee sorts food donated by Mexican citizens to people affected by the earthquake in Ecuador, in Mexico City, Mexico, April 18, 2016.[Photo/Agencies]

PLEAS FOR AID

The quake struck Saturday night along the northwest coast, while Correa was in Italy. Vice President Jorge Glas - a potential candidate to succeed Correa in elections next February - flew into the disaster zone within hours to oversee rescue and relief efforts.

But some survivors complained about lack of electricity and supplies, and aid had still not reached some areas. The number of injured rose to over 2,600.

Shaken Ecuadoreans lined up for food and blankets, slept in the rubble of their destroyed homes or congregated in the street after the most destructive quake since a 1979 magnitude 7.7 quake killed at least 600 people and injured 20,000, according to the US Geological Survey.

There, survivors curled up on mattresses or plastic chairs next to flattened homes. Soldiers and police patrolled the hot streets while rescuers searched for survivors.

Earlier, firefighters entered a partially destroyed house in Pedernales to look for three children and a man apparently trapped inside, as a crowd gathered to watch.

"My little cousins are inside. Before, there were noises, screams. We must find them," pleaded Isaac, 18.

Tents sprang up in the intact stadium to store bodies, treat the injured, and distribute water, food and blankets. Bruised and bandaged survivors wandered around while the more seriously injured were evacuated to hospitals.

Over 300 aftershocks rattled survivors huddling in the streets, worried their already cracked homes could topple.

"We're scared of being in the house," said Yamil Faran, 47, in Portoviejo. "When ... the aftershocks stop, we're going to see if we can repair it."

Some 130 inmates climbed over the collapsed walls of the town's low-security El Rodeo prison, although more than 35 were recaptured.