A magnitude 6.8 earthquake shook a coastal region of Ecuador and northern Peru 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 quake, which the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) measured at magnitude 6.8, 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.
The earthquake did not appear likely to generate a tsunami, authorities said.
Ecuador’s Secretariat of Risk Management said in a statement that a wall had collapsed onto a vehicle, killing one person, in the city of Cuenca. In the community of Machala, three people were killed and multiple structures collapsed, including a two-story home and a wharf, while multiple communities lost power.
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