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New quake, magnitude 6.2, strikes off Ecuador coast

By Editor
21 April 2016   |   3:30 am
A magnitude 6.2 earthquake shook Ecuador’s coast early yesterday, terrifying locals and impeding rescuers after a bigger weekend quake-battered the same area and killed nearly 500 people.
Collapsed buildings in Portoviejo, Ecuador, on April 19, 2016. Three days after the powerful 7.8-magnitude quake struck Ecuador's Pacific coast in a zone popular with tourists, 480 people are known to have died, the government said. / AFP PHOTO / Juan Cevallos

Collapsed buildings in Portoviejo, Ecuador, on April 19, 2016.<br />Three days after the powerful 7.8-magnitude quake struck Ecuador’s Pacific coast in a zone popular with tourists, 480 people are known to have died, the government said. / AFP PHOTO / Juan Cevallos

A magnitude 6.2 earthquake shook Ecuador’s coast early yesterday, terrifying locals and impeding rescuers after a bigger weekend quake-battered the same area and killed nearly 500 people.

The latest earthquake hit 25 km (15 miles) off Muisne on the northwest Pacific coast at a depth of 15 km, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said.

That was near the epicenter of Saturday’s 7.8 quake, which devastated a long swath of the coast and dealt a major blow to the oil-producing nation’s already fragile economy.

Witnesses said two strong tremors of about 30 seconds each woke people up and sent them running into the street.

No tsunami warning was issued, and there were no immediate reports of major damage.

Ecuador’s Geophysical Institute said there were, in fact, two quakes of magnitude 6.2, followed by 17 aftershocks.

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