Ecuador Earthquake Damages 800 Buildings, Injures Dozens

Post by: Omar Nasser

Photo : AFP

A big shake happened in the city of Esmeraldas, Ecuador, on Friday morning. The ground moved hard because of a strong earthquake. The shake was not deep under the ground, so it felt very strong on top. The shaking made more than 30 people hurt. Around 179 homes broke fully, and 716 homes got small or big cracks. Even the people in Quito, the main city of the country, felt the shake.

Stay informed with the latest news. Follow DXB News Network on WhatsApp Channel  

A man named Andres Mafare, who catches fish for work, was walking to the sea when he heard a loud sound like something breaking. After that, the ground started to move, and the wires above his head were swinging. He got scared and ran to his house to check on his wife and two young boys. When he reached, his house had already fallen down.

Many walls broke and fell on the streets. Some building fronts came down and made big piles of stones and bricks. Many houses had long lines or cracks on them. People came out of their homes and looked at the broken places with sad faces. One man said the shake felt very long, but it was only for some seconds.

The people in charge said four doctor places and eighteen schools got broken. A part of a soldier’s building also came down. Two roads and one bridge had damage too. Around 80 out of every 100 homes lost lights or phones.

A big oil company in Ecuador stopped work for a short time. They closed the oil-making place and a long pipe that carries oil to other places, just to be safe. The oil place makes more than one lakh barrels every day, and the pipe moves even more than that.

The country’s leader, Daniel Noboa, said he is sending helpers and ministers to Esmeraldas. They will give food, water, and tents to people who lost their homes.

The ground shaking started from the sea, not far from land. It was 35 kilometers deep under the ground. The people who watch earthquakes said the sea will not rise and flood the land. That means there is no danger from water waves.

Ecuador is on land where two giant earth plates meet. These plates move slowly and push each other. When they push too much, the ground shakes. That is why Ecuador has many earthquakes.

The shake was felt in ten different areas of the country. These include places called Manabi, Los Rios, Guayas, and Pichincha. The nearby country, Colombia, did not report any hurt people.

Just one week ago, Ecuador remembered a very bad earthquake from 2016. That one was even stronger. It killed more than 670 people and hurt over 6,000. That big shake also hit the same areas: Manabi and Esmeraldas.

#trending #latest #EcuadorEarthquake #EsmeraldasQuake #EarthquakeDamage #StaySafeEcuador #NaturalDisaster #EcuadorNews #EarthquakeRelief #SupportEcuador #DisasterResponse #PrayForEcuador #headlines #topstories #globalUpdate #dxbnewsnetwork #dxbnews #dxbdnn #dxbnewsnetworkdnn #bestnewschanneldubai #bestnewschannelUAE #bestnewschannelabudhabi #bestnewschannelajman #bestnewschannelofdubai #popularnewschanneldubai