A earthquake of magnitude 6.3 has hit near the coast of Ecuador, according to the European Mediterranean Seismological Center (EMSC).
The earthquake was at a depth of 23 km (14.29 miles), EMSC said.
Images shared online buildings visibly damaged in the earthquake. There were no immediate reports or victims.
Adapts to earthquakes
Ecuador has a long and painful seismic disaster history.
In 2013, an earthquake that shook northern Peru and southern Ecuador left at least 14 people dead and destroyed homes, schools and health clinics.
Three years later, in 2016, a devastating earthquake of magnitude 7.8, the strongest in Ecuador since 1979, killed at least 77 people and wounded more than 500.
The country is located along the “Fire Ring” of the Pacific, a volatile area of seismic and volcanic activity that surrounds the ocean.
Ecuador extends to horcajadas on the limit where the Nazca and South American tectonic plates are located: two massive sections of the earth’s crust that move with each other, moving at an average rate of approximately 65 millimeters) by YAR.
More to come …