A relative kisses a photo of Kexly Valentino affixed to her coffin in Montecristi, Ecuador, on Tuesday.
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A 5.8 magnitude tremor struck Ecuador’s northern coast Friday night, around 16 miles (25 kms) west of Muisne, a town in the impoverished Esmeraldas province, the latest aftershock to hit the devasted country.
A 6.1-magnitude natural disaster has struck near the coast of Ecuador, just days after the South American country was devastated by a deadly 7.8-magnitude quake, United States experts said Wednesday.
President Rafael Correa has said the quake caused $3 billion in damage and warned that the reconstruction effort will take years. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, 6.1 magnitude tremor hit the country around 4 a.m. Wednesday.
Wednesday’s aftershock came as Ecuadoreans began burying loved ones, while hopes faded that more survivors will be found. They were killed with their mother while buying school supplies when the magnitude-7.8 quake struck Saturday night. Family members wailed loudly and one man fainted as the children were laid to rest in an above-ground vault.
The official death toll now stands at 525, with 5,733 injured and 163 still missing.
Rescue crews are still looking for survivors from the original natural disaster. Among the dead also include at least 11 foreigners. It also added that tourists destinations such as Manta, Portoviejo and Pedernales, saw the most devastation. The final death toll could surpass casualties from earthquakes in Chile and Peru in the past decade.
Yet even as grief mounted, there were glimmers of hope.
The troops have also brought in search dogs to locate survivors and bodies.
In Manta, two young women with eyes red from crying wandered around near the ruined hotel on Tuesday.
Cordova’s wife had given up on ever seeing him again and managed to buy a casket.
“They were organising the funeral, but I’ve been reborn”, Cordova said, grinning in a provincial hospital.
“I will have to give that coffin back because I still have a long way to go before I die”, Pablo said.
Luis Felipe Navarro said he was sure there were people alive in the concrete and twisted metal of a building he owned – one of around 800 structures toppled in the quake. Local seismologists have recorded more than 400 aftershocks, some felt 105 miles (170 kilometers) away in the capital of Quito. The Red Cross Society of China has provided 100,000 US dollars in cash for emergency assistance, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Tuesday. President Rafael Correa, who supervised the rescue and monitoring, called on Ecuadoreans to stay strong while authorities supervise events.
“I’ve lost my house and I’m living on the street”.
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Defense Minister Ricardo Patino said that they are concentrating on humanitarian aid for the moment. The delivery of relief goods is slow because of torn up roads, according to Reuters. The estimated financial cost of the weekend quake has been pegged between $2 to $3 Billion, reports Associated Press, about three percent of gross domestic product.
