By Senabri Silvestre
SANTO DOMINGO, Dom. Rep.
A massive earthquake that struck Ecuador’s northern coast has killed 480 victims, the country’s assistant Interior Minister said Tuesday.
More than 4,000 others have been injured and 213 remain missing.
"In these hard times we will be strengthened, we appreciate support of all Ecuadorians and international delegations," Diego Fuentes said via Twitter.
Foreign Minister Ricardo Patiño said 20,000 residents have been left homeless after the magnitude-7.8 tremor hit Saturday evening.
The government has authorized 12,000 daily food rations to affected areas. President Rafael Correa estimates billions in damages and years to rebuild.
“I calculate them roughly in $3,000 million and around 3 percent of our gross domestic product”, he said. Ecuador has a credit line of $600 million from the Inter-American Development Bank, the World Bank and the Development Bank of Latin America, to help cope with the aftermath of the earthquake, according to Finance Minister Fausto Herrera.
In a telephone call Tuesday, U.S. President Barack Obama expressed his condolences to Correa and discussed assistance to the ravaged country. “The president assured President Correa the United States would do all it can to support Ecuador’s recovery,” the White House said in a statement.
A number of countries have pledged assistance. Foreign Minister Guillaume Long said international aid received include rescue worker from Venezuelan, Colombian Peru, Mexico, Cuba, Bolivia, Chilean firefighters and three Swiss experts. Norway approved 1.6 million euros ($1.8 million) to help those affected by the earthquake and Spain promised a shipment of 12.5 tons of aid.
The Manta airport will be used exclusively for humanitarian aid flights and protected areas and tourist sites will be closed for 24 hours to evaluate possible damage to infrastructure and business systems, the tourism ministry said.
More than 15,000 police and military personnel, 83 buses, five helicopters and trained dogs are working to locate and rescue victims who are trapped under destroyed buildings.
But access to devastated areas is hampered by roads that were split apart when the quake hit. The earthquake was the strongest tremor in the South American country since 1979.
Michael Hernandez in Washington DC, contributed to this report.
