(Bloomberg) – World leaders from the Vatican to Washington offered support to Ecuador as casualties mounted following one of the strongest earthquakes to strike the South American country in decades.
The number of dead has climbed to at least 350 from 272 last night, Security Minister Cesar Navas told local television station Teleamazonas Monday. At least 2,527 were injured, the government said yesterday. President Rafael Correa flew to the epicenter in Manabi province Sunday after cutting short a trip to the Vatican in the aftermath of the 7.8-magnitude earthquake.
"Ecuador has been hit tremendously," Correa said last night in a televised broadcast, calling the quake Ecuador's worst tragedy in almost seven decades. "Even though the pain is immense, our peoples' spirit is even greater."
The nation's geophysical institute said the quake was centered near the coastal town of Pedernales in Manabi province, about 170 kilometers (106 miles) west-northwest of the capital, Quito. The institute reported "considerable damage" and said more than 230 aftershocks, one measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale, had followed.
Searching the rubble
During the earthquake, houses shook and power went off briefly around the country. Coastal towns nearer the epicenter were devastated, the government said, with victims still being pulled from collapsed buildings as of Monday. Roads and bridges were also affected, complicating access to the hardest-hit areas.
Vice President Jorge Glas spent Sunday night in Pedernales working with security, health and rescue teams. The government has deployed 10,000 troops to the region and the nation's risk management agency said that 10,000 bottles of water would be shipped to some of the affected areas in the Manabi province, along with sleeping kits and food. Thousands are helping to collect donations of clothing, blankets and food for the hardest-hit areas.
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Police and firemen inspect a collapsed overpass in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Saturday April 16, 2016. The strongest earthquake to hit Ecuador in decades flattened buildings and buckled highways along the country's coast, killing many and causing damage hundreds of miles (kilometers) away from the epicenter in the capital and other major cities. (AP Photo/Jeff Castro)
"We stand by the people of Ecuador in this difficult time and are ready to assist in any way we can," U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said in an e-mail.
State oil company PetroEcuador said Sunday that it was slowly restarting operations at its refineries and oil pipeline after making initial safety inspections. While the La Libertad and Shushufindi refineries were working normally, installations in the Esmeraldas refinery, located near the disaster zone, were still being evaluated.
Economic backdrop
Potentially complicating the nation's economic recovery, crude prices tumbled by the most in two months after talks in Doha among major global producers to freeze output ended without an agreement.
Ecuador, an OPEC member, produced 547,000 barrels of crude per day in March, according to data from the Vienna-based organization. The International Monetary Fund, which earlier Sunday said it stands ready to help Ecuador as needed, expects the economy to contract 4.5% this year.
Reconstruction efforts will probably be hampered by the government's lack of reserves, which could deepen this year's economic contraction, said Edward Glossop, an economist at Capital Economics in London. Ecuador's Finance Ministry has $300 million in emergency funds and will also use contingent financing to help pay for reconstruction, Vice President Glas said Sunday.
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Firefighters recover a body from the debris of a collapsed building felled by the 7.8-magnitude earthquake, in Portoviejo, Ecuador, Monday, April 18, 2016. The Saturday night quake left a trail of ruin along Ecuador's normally placid Pacific Ocean coast. At least 350 people died and thousands are homeless. President Rafael Correa said early Monday that the death toll would "surely rise, and in a considerable way." (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
While it's too soon to put a figure on damages, losses may vary between 15% and 30% of gross domestic product, based on estimates of damages in the 2010 earthquakes in regional neighbors Haiti and Chile, Glossop said. The disaster in Chile cost about $30 billion while Haiti spent $14 billion to rebuild, he said.
"The government is basically short of cash, so any fiscal effort to rebuild will be severely hampered," Glossop said by telephone Monday from London. "It just means that they need even more funds than they previously did — it's relatively bleak."
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Rubble from a collapsed building lays on the ground in Tarqui, the business district of Manta, Ecuador, Sunday, April 17, 2016. (AP Photo/Patricio Ramos)
The April 16 earthquake is reminiscent of the 1942 Guayaquil Earthquake, magnitude 7.9, which struck the same region of northwest Ecuador as Saturday's quake, which caused widespread damage and killed over 200 people.
"For the insurance industry key areas of concern will be around Esmeraldas which is a major port city just beyond the northern extent of the strong shaking, as well as facilities for international sea trade there is also the country's largest oil refinery with a capacity of 110,000 barrels per day," according to Dr. Robert Muir-Wood, chief research officer at RMS, a catastrophe risk modeling company.
"At the southern end of the area of strongest shaking lies the country's largest sea port at Manta. A short distance inland from there is Portoviejo which is the main commercial center for this region.
"Right across the affected coastal areas it's clear that construction standards are often poor. Major commercial buildings and the many seaside hotels are also likely to be of concern to the insurance industry," Muir-Wood stated. "It is fortunate that this has not, so far, triggered an even bigger earthquake along the subduction zone where the oceanic and continental plates are moving towards each other."
A man, whose wife and unborn son were killed during a 7.8-magnitude earthquake, recovers belongings from his collapsed home, in La Chorrera, Ecuador, Monday, April 18, 2016. The Saturday night quake left a trail of ruin along Ecuador's normally placid Pacific Ocean coast. At least 350 people died and thousands are homeless. President Rafael Correa said early Monday that the death toll would "surely rise, and in a considerable way." (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)
Residents walk through the cemetery damaged by the 7.8-magnitude earthquake, in Portoviejo, Ecuador, Monday, April 18, 2016. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Josefa Cevena, from left, her sisters Rita Cevena and Elian Cevena, carry their children as they look for shelter, after their home was destroyed in the 7.8-magnitude earthquake, in Portoviejo, Ecuador, Monday, April 18, 2016. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
A flatten car is lifted from rubble caused by the 7.8-magnitude earthquake, in Pedernales, Ecuador, Monday, April 18, 2016. Rescuers and aid from all over the world are flooding into Ecuador as survivors start a second day in towns flattened by the Saturday night quake.
The Spanish Red Cross says in a statement that there is no official estimate yet on the number of affected people but it estimates that thousands will need some kind of help, including temporary housing. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)
A resident recovers a pair of pants as he combs through the rubble of his home damaged by the 7.8-magnitude earthquake, in Portoviejo, Ecuador, Monday, April 18, 2016. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Residents look at the destruction caused by a 7.8-magnitude earthquake, in Portoviejo, Ecuador, Monday, April 18, 2016. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
The Sanchez family mourn the loss of their five family members, victims of the 7.8-magnitude earthquake, during a funeral service in Portoviejo, Ecuador, Monday, April 18, 2016. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Ecuador's President Rafael Correa, left front, visits earthquake-damaged areas in Portoviejo, Ecuador, Monday, April 18, 2016. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Vehicles from a car dealership hang on a precipice caused by an earthquake induced landslide in Portoviejo, Ecuador, Sunday, April 17, 2016. The strongest earthquake to hit Ecuador in decades flattened buildings and buckled highways along its Pacific coast, sending the Andean nation into a state of emergency. (AP Photo/Juan Fernando Molina)
People search for their belongings amid the debris of their destroyed homes, after a massive earthquake in Pedernales, Ecuador, Sunday, April 17, 2016. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)
Police look at a car crushed under a collapsed overpass in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Saturday April 16, 2016. (AP Photo/Jeff Castro)
Lit candles burn in front of a collapsed building, as a tribute to victims of an 7.8 magnitude earthquake, in La Chorrera, Ecuador, Monday, April 18, 2016. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)
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