Highlights
· An earthquake (16.04.16 at 6:58 p.m. local time) of 7.8 at 19 km deep (USGC) impacted northwest of Pedernales, or 27 km (17 miles) southeast of Muisne.
· Six provinces have been most affected: Manabí, Esmeraldas, Guayas, Santa Elena, Santo Domingo and Los Ríos, whereof the first three have the higher impact.
· Government has declared the Emergency State (State of Exception).
· Pedernales has been declared "disaster zone".
· Preliminary reports indicate that approximately 370 buildings were destroyed and 151 are damaged.
· 120 schools are damaged affecting 88 thousand students.
· Power outages are still reported across the region, with a total blackout in Santo Domingo - one of the country's largest cities - and power outages.
· Only 41% of communication lines are working.
Situation in numbers
Date: 17 April 2016
246 Dead people
(Situation Report #14. Secretaría de gestión de Riesgos)
2,527 People injured (El Telégrafo quoting, Vice-President Statement)
6 Most Affected Provinces
Manabí, Esmeraldas, Santa Elena, Guayas, Santo Domingo and Los Ríos. (Situation Report #14. Secretaría de gestión de Riesgos)
150,000
Initial estimate of affected children
$US 300 million of Multilateral Contingency Funds activated for the reconstruction process. (Secretaría de gestión de Riesgos, Deputy Director press statement,CNN)
· Maximum Health alert. Two mobile hospitals are being mobilized and installed in Pedernales and Porto Viejo.
· Widespread material damage in Guayaquil, Puerto Viejo, Manta and other coastal areas. School damage and partial collapse of roof of Secretaría de Gestión de Riesgo
Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs
On April 16th at 6:58 p.m. local time an earthquake of 7.8 at 19 km deep (USGC) impacted northwest of Pedernales, or 27 km (17 miles) southeast of Muisne. So far, more than 189 aftershocks have been registered, some of them quite severe (6,1 of magnitude at 2.00 am 17.04/2016)
USGS estimated 15.2 million people across the region might have felt the earthquake, including an estimated 350,000 people who may have experienced "very strong" to "severe" shaking and up to 150,000 children directly affected.
The Government of Ecuador did not issue a Tsunami alert, however, initially it had recommended some preventive evacuations due to possible waves but now this measure has been cancelled. The latest assessments indicate there is NO risk of tsunami.
In some regions where the earthquake hit, several mudslides also occurred due to the saturation of the slopes during the winter season causing an increase of infrastructural damage as well as problems for the access of relief teams and supplies.
Some cities remain with partial power outage, though it is gradually being re-established. Only 41% of communication lines are working.
There is a Maximum Health alert and there is concern about health and WASH conditions in the coastal areas that were already considered hotspots or risk areas for the spread of Zika, Dengue, Malaria and Chikungunya.
The government has confirmed that there is no major impact affecting the areas of dams.