JUST IN: EARTHQUAKE KILLS 233 IN ECUADOR, DEVASTATES COAST ZONE

The death toll from Ecuador's biggest earthquake in decades soared to at least 233 on Sunday as rescuers using tractors and bare hands hunted desperately for survivors in shattered coastal towns.
The 7.8 magnitude quake struck off the Pacific coast on Saturday and was felt around the Andean nation of 16 million people, causing panic as far away as the highland capital Quito and collapsing buildings and roads in a swathe of western towns.


President Rafael Correa, who was rushing home from a trip to Italy, said the confirmed number of fatalities rose on Sunday to 233.

"The immediate priority is to rescue people in the rubble," he said via Tiwtter.

More than 1,500 people were injured, authorities said.

Coastal areas nearest the quake were worst affected, especially Pedernales, a rustic tourist spot with beaches and palm trees. Information was scant from there due to poor communications and transport chaos.

"There are people trapped in various places and we are starting rescue operations," Vice President Jorge Glas said on Sunday morning before boarding a plane to the area.
A state of emergency was declared in six provinces.

"There are villages totally devastated," Pedernales' mayor Gabriel Alcivar told local radio, adding that "dozens and dozens" had died in the rustic zone.

"What happened here in Pedernales is catastrophic."

The government called it the worst quake in the country since 1979. In that disaster, 600 people were killed and 20,000 injured, according to the United States Geological Survey, Reuters reported.

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