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Officials said the quake killed at least 246 people and injured more than 2,500 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. Much damage was reported in the cities of Manta, Portoviejo and Guayaquil, which are all several hundred kilometers (miles) from the epicenter of the quake that struck shortly after nightfall Saturday. But the loss of life seemed to be far worse in isolated, smaller towns closed to the center of the earthquake.
In Pedernales, a town of 40,000 near the epicenter, soldiers put up a field hospital in a stadium where hundreds of people prepared to sleep outside for a second straight night. Downed power cables snaked across the streets with no prospect of electricity being restored soon, making it unsafe for many to return to their homes. The town's mayor said looting broke out Saturday night amid the chaos but with the arrival of 14,000 police and soldiers to towns in the quake zone the situation appeared more under control.
Volunteers rescue a body from a destroyed house after a massive in earthquake in Pedernales, 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.
President Rafael Correa, who cut short a trip to Rome to oversee relief efforts, 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 in a telephone call to state TV before departing Rome for Manta. More than 3,000 packages of food and nearly 8,000 sleeping kits were being delivered Sunday. Ecuador's ally, Venezuela, and neighboring Colombia, where the quake was also felt, organized airlifts of humanitarian aid. The European Union, Spain, Peru and Mexico also pledged aid.
Rescuers scrambled through ruins in the provincial capital Portoviejo, digging with their hands trying to find survivors. "For god's sake help me find my family," pleaded Manuel Quijije, 27, standing next to a wrecked building. He said his older brother, Junior, was trapped under a pile of twisted steel and concrete with two relatives. "We managed to see his arms and legs. They're his, they're buried, but the police kicked us out because they say there's a risk the rest of the building will collapse," Quijije said angrily as he looked on the ruins cordoned off by police. "We're not afraid. We're desperate. We want to pull out our family."
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Thousands of rescue workers fanned out in often mountainous terrain to search for the missing. Rescue helicopters could be seen going into and out of the area, much of which has been cut off by landslides and road and bridge damage. With 180,000 people seeking shelter, some evacuees said that food distribution was a meager two rice balls for dinner. U.S. Forces, Japan said it was getting ready to provide aerial support for Japan's relief efforts. The U.S. has major Air Force, Navy and Marine bases in Japan, and stations about 50,000 troops in the country. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said, "We are extremely grateful, and we would like to coordinate quickly and have the emergency relief be transported in as soon as possible."
Shiori Yatabe, an official at the Kumamoto prefecture crisis management department, said 11 people were missing. She didn't have a breakdown, but Japanese media reported that eight were in Minamiaso village. About 100 troops, police and other rescue workers searched for those missing in Minamiaso, shoveling dirt in areas where they were believed to have been buried. A few stretchers were on hand in case anyone was found alive. Minamiaso is in a mountainous area southwest of 1,592-meter-high (5,223-foot-high) Mount Aso, the largest active volcano in Japan. Aerial footage from Japanese TV showed teams of rescuers going through small clusters of destroyed buildings.
Earthquakes on successive nights struck Kumamoto city and the surrounding region late last week. Nine people died in the first earthquake, and 32 in the second. Kumamoto, a city of 740,000, is on the southwestern island of Kyushu. The hardest-hit town appears to be Mashiki, on the eastern border of Kumamoto city, where 20 people died. Overnight rainfall did not appear to cause any more landslides, as had been feared, and the skies had cleared by Sunday morning. About 80,000 homes in Kumamoto prefecture still didn't have electricity Sunday, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said. Japanese media reported earlier that an estimated 400,000 households were without running water.
More than 1,000 buildings were damaged in the two earthquakes, including at least 90 that were destroyed. Many residents were still recovering from the shock of the destruction, while struggling to bring their lives, and spirit, together. "Without water and electricity, we can't do anything. Without the TV on, we can't even get information about disaster relief operations," said Megumi Kudo, 51, standing in a line for water outside a community center in Aso city. "We can't take a bath, not even a shower."
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