Magnitude-7.8 earthquake rocks Ecuador, kills at least 28

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">A powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Ecuador on Saturday night, April 16 (Sunday morning in Philippine Time). At least 28 people have died, the country's vice president, Jorge Glas, told in a televised address.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz1IJw5-8dSw42Uip6wUwS3TbJ9u7qxVW_RJUGfwEr8UrDs3VpHrEuE8ApbALsWAZt18HTdbCDJ72eKs6er0o14ZLj9_DKnA3ePPMIxOrPcaEph-mFUch-l3kCbkGV2d35mAvzndEBmHM2/s1600/ecuador-earthquake.JPG" imageanchor="1" rel="nofollow" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="At least 28 people killed after powerful earthquake hit Ecuador." border="0" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz1IJw5-8dSw42Uip6wUwS3TbJ9u7qxVW_RJUGfwEr8UrDs3VpHrEuE8ApbALsWAZt18HTdbCDJ72eKs6er0o14ZLj9_DKnA3ePPMIxOrPcaEph-mFUch-l3kCbkGV2d35mAvzndEBmHM2/s640/ecuador-earthquake.JPG" title="At least 28 people killed after powerful earthquake hit Ecuador." width="560" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At least 28 people killed after powerful earthquake hit Ecuador. Photo Credit: Daily Mail Online</td></tr></tbody></table>"We have 16 people dead in the city of Portoviejo, 10 in Manta and two in the province of Guayas," Glas said at a news conference. He added that number is still for confirmation.<br /><br />Glas also declared state of emergency and said that preventive evacuations in coastal areas were underway because of possible tsunami risks.<br /><br />According to the United States Geological Survey (<a href="http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us20005j32#general" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">USGS</a>), the tremor was centered about 27 kilometers (16.8 miles) south-southeast of Muisne. Earthquake occurred as the result of shallow thrust faulting on or near the plate boundary between the Nazca and Pacific plates.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgthp6yY_P_xr1PVhoKK5TEwc9ikCQXvV5yb37rvjZFKOgoKIN4bfLa-e4Qp83pehCbZWvVkxN6ypdWnuLT94Y0C_XGPzoCcodgybDhWT2LgAFXJhZnm3vToD5Ktj9j5fNezrj9VTWhDfbm/s1600/earthquake-ecuador.JPG" imageanchor="1" rel="nofollow" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="M7.8 Earthquake at 27km SSE of Muisne, Ecuador." border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgthp6yY_P_xr1PVhoKK5TEwc9ikCQXvV5yb37rvjZFKOgoKIN4bfLa-e4Qp83pehCbZWvVkxN6ypdWnuLT94Y0C_XGPzoCcodgybDhWT2LgAFXJhZnm3vToD5Ktj9j5fNezrj9VTWhDfbm/s1600/earthquake-ecuador.JPG" title="M7.8 Earthquake at 27km SSE of Muisne, Ecuador." /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">M7.8 Earthquake at 27km SSE of Muisne, Ecuador. Photo Credit: USGS</td></tr></tbody></table>CNN has reported that there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries in the capital of Quito, located 173 kilometers (108 miles) from the epicenter of the earthquake.<br /><br />The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a threat forecast for some parts of Ecuador, saying waves could could reach 1 meter (3 feet) above tide level. An earlier warning for other nations with coastlines on the Pacific was canceled.<br /><br />Ecuador is prone to earthquakes. It is located along the Ring of Fire, a horseshoe-shaped, seismically turbulent area of the Pacific Ocean.</div>

Magnitude-7.8 earthquake rocks Ecuador, kills at least 28

A powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Ecuador on Saturday night, April 16 (Sunday morning in Philippine Time). At least 28 people have die...

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