Ecuador toll rises as scale of repair comes into focus
President announces plans for one-time levy on millionaires
QUITO, Ecuador — The death count from Ecuador’s worst earthquake in a decade rose to at least 577 on Thursday even as the country was facing another grim toll: a long and costly reconstruction effort likely to cost billions of dollars.
President Rafael Correa announced Wednesday night that he would raise sales taxes and put a one-time levy on millionaires to help pay for reconstruction.
The damage from magnitude-7.8 quake adds to already heavy economic hardships being felt in this OPEC nation because of the collapse in world oil prices. Even before the quake, Ecuador was bracing for a bout of austerity, with the International Monetary Fund forecasting the economy would shrink 4.5 percent this year.
In a televised address Wednesday night, Correa warned the nation of a long and costly post-quake recovery and said the economic pain shouldn’t fall only on hard-hit communities along the coast.
“I know we’re at the most-difficult stage right now but it’s just the beginning,” he said.
Rescuers continued to comb through the rubble in coastal towns hit hardest by the quake, but the clock is running down for finding survivors. Rescue workers say a person without serious injuries can survive up to a week buried in debris in the Ecuadorian heat.
On Thursday, Jorge Zambrano, mayor of the community of Manta, announced that three people had been pulled from be- neath a collapsed building the night before and vowed to continue searching.
“I still have hope we can find more people who are still alive beneath the rubble,” he said. “If we have even a hope of life, we must work with extreme care.”
Rescuers also found a more unusual survivor: A flapping white-and-brown duck was pulled from under a pile of rubble, becoming a social media celebrity in a country eager for good news.
Using authority granted by the state of emergency he declared after Saturday night’s quake, Correa said sales taxes would increase from 12 percent to 14 percent for the coming year.