President Guillermo Lasso called on the population to calm down after the 6.8 magnitude tremor. The epicenter of the earthquake was ten kilometers from the town of Balao, which is located on the Ecuadorian coast. According to the authorities, there was no risk of a tsunami.
One person was killed when a wall fell on a car in the city of Cuenca. Three people died in the community of Machala. Several buildings collapsed there, including a two-story house. Damage was reported from two other provinces. The earthquake was felt in more than half of the country’s 24 provinces.
As a precaution, the state oil company Petroecuador shut down operations in several plants. However, no damage was reported. Two weaker aftershocks followed the tremor that occurred at noon local time.
