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The European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre, EMSC, has reported that a magnitude 6.3 earthquake has struck near the coast of Ecuador.
EMSC said the quake was at a depth of 23km, 14.29 miles.
Although footage shared online showed buildings visibly damaged in the earthquake, there were no immediate reports of casualties.
The Eastern Updates reports that Ecuador has a long and painful history of seismic disasters.
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It will be recalled that in 2013, a quake that rattled northern Peru and southern Ecuador left at least 14 people dead and destroyed homes, schools and health clinics.
In 2016, three years later, a devastating magnitude 7.8 earthquake, Ecuador’s strongest since 1979, killed no fewer than 77 people and injured more than 500 others.
The country lies along the Pacific’s “Ring of Fire”, a volatile zone of seismic and volcanic activity encircling the ocean.
The Eastern Updates reports that Ecuador straddles the boundary where the Nazca and South American tectonic plates meet, two massive sections of the Earth’s crust that grind against each other, moving at an average rate of about 65 millimetres (2.5 inches) per year.
The government said in a report that 20 people were injured and around 135 families were affected by the earthquake. Several public buildings and private homes were damaged, and some areas also experienced power outages.
President Daniel Noboa, in a post on social media platform X, said the government would work to set up shelters, deliver humanitarian aid kits and “assist with everything our people need.”
