Ecuador Rocked By 7.5 Magnitude Quake, No Reports Of Major Damage

A deep-seated 7.5 magnitude earthquake has struck near the Ecuador-Peru border in the early hours of Friday, according to the US Geological Survey, with Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno reporting that tremors continued to shake the country.

Moreno said that according to preliminary reports, no major damage had been recorded, but that provincial response teams had been activated.

In Guayaquil, Mayor Jaime Nebot reported on social media that there had been no reports of loss of life or major damage, but called on residents “to continue acting conscientiously and practicing the precautionary measures you already know,” he wrote.

The lack of damage and fatalities could be attributed to the remote area of the epicenter of the quake, some 224 km from Ambato, Ecuador, a sparsely populated area. The quake was recorded at 132 km underground.

The last major earthquake in Ecuador was in 2016, where a 7.8 quake killed some 700 people.