Death toll hits 262 in Ecuador quake

THE STRONGEST earthquake to hit Ecuador in decades flattened buildings and buckled highways along its Pacific coast, killing hundreds and injuring thousands.

Officials said at least 262 people were killed and more than 2,500 injured along Ecuador’s coast.

Vice President Jorge Glas said the toll was likely to rise because a large number of people remained unaccounted for, though he declined to say how many.

The magnitude-7.8 quake, the strongest to hit Ecuador since 1979, was centered on sparsely populated fishing ports and tourist beaches, 105 miles northwest of Quito, the capital.

Glas said there were deaths in the cities of Manta, Portoviejo and Guayaquil — all several hundred miles from the center of the quake, which struck shortly after nightfall Saturday.

In Pedernales, a town of 40,000 near the quake’s epicenter, dozens of frightened residents slept in the streets while men equipped with little more than car headlights tried to rescue survivors who could be heard trapped under the rubble.

“We’re trying to do the most we can, but there’s almost nothing we can do,” said Pedernales Mayor Gabriel Alcivar.

President Rafael Correa declared a national emergency and urged Ecuadoreans to stay strong.

“Everything can be rebuilt, but what can’t be rebuilt are human lives, and that’s the most painful,” he said.