A magnitude-6.2 natural disaster struck off the coast of Ecuador on Wednesday, just days after a major quake hit the country, killing at least 525 people.
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The U.S. Geological Survey says that a tremor of magnitude 6.1 has rattled Ecuador.
It was not felt in the highland capital of Quito. There was no immediate report of further damage. “Why stay?” he asked, his eyes filled with tears.
Correa has said Ecuador will temporarily increase some taxes, offer assets for sale and possibly issue bonds overseas to fund reconstruction after Saturday’s 7.8 magnitude quake.
Ecuador is launching a campaign to gather relief funds urgently needed for its quake-devastated areas, as the official death toll has now reached 587.
Many have been left without safe drinking water and vulnerable to disease. Almost 7,000 buildings were destroyed and more than 2,700 damaged. Up and down Ecuador’s Pacific coast, sports stadiums served as both morgues and aid-distribution centers.
Many businesses have closed their shutters, fearing looters – which has made it all the more hard to find food and basic necessities.
Police cadet Erick Palacios holds one-year-old Juanita Yamile Marquez as he watches over her and her siblings while their mother searches for usable items inside an earthquake-damaged building, with permission from the owners, o. The smell of decomposing bodies has grown increasingly powerful in the tropical heat as workers continue searching for corpses in the ruins.
President Rafael Correa announced Wednesday night that he is raising sales taxes and will charge a one-time levy on millionaires to rebuild cities devastated by Ecuador’s worst natural disaster in decades.
The latest tremblor came just days after a strong 7.8 magnitude quake hit the country on Saturday, whose death toll has already climbed to over 580 victims, the government reported on Thursday.
“There are no tents for people who have been left with no roof over their heads”. Manufacturing is also suffering because the economy is dollarized, depriving companies in Ecuador of the same jolt the rest of South America has experienced from devalued currencies.
Additionally, a one-off tax of 0.9 percent will be imposed on people with wealth of over $1 million. But even that will not be enough, according to the head of the national tax authority, who estimated the measures would bring in “USD1 billion, maximum”.
The Inter-American Development Bank announced it would extend Ecuador an emergency loan of up to US$300 million.
Vice President Jorge Glas said in a Twitter update Tuesday morning that power supply was coming back in most of Manabi, and an evaluation of infrastructure would be carried out once power is fully restored.
Aid workers have said there are plenty of supplies arriving from overseas. “‘Not again!’ I thought”, Maria Quinones told Reuters in Pedernales, that was close to the epicentre of Saturday’s quake.
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Insured losses from the M7.8 quake that struck Ecuador’s central coast on April 16 could reach $850 million.
