December 19, 2016 Earthquake: Esmeraldas, Ecuador

Three people died of heart attacks, 47 injured, 10 homes destroyed and 70 damaged in Esmeraldas. Felt (VI) at Esmeraldas and (III) at Quito. Also felt at Guayaquil, Ibarra, Manta, Muisne, Palora, Pedernales, Sangolqui, Santo Domingo, Valdez and Ventanas. Esmeraldas, Esmeraldas, Ecuador - CDI: 6; Palora, Morona Santiago, Ecuador - CDI: 4; Muisne, Esmeraldas, Ecuador - CDI: 3; Pedernales, Manabí, Ecuador - CDI: 3; Santo Domingo, Pichincha, Ecuador - CDI: 3 (reference #13456)

An earthquake and 20 aftershocks rattled Ecuador's northwestern coast in the pre-dawn hours of Monday, leaving three people dead in an area that is still recovering from a devastating 7.8-magnitude quake that killed 673 people in April and left some 6,000 injured. According to authorities, 15 people were also injured, 65 structures have been affected and 10 buildings have collapsed. The strongest quake in the series hit with a magnitude of 5.8 on the Richter scale at around 2:00 a.m. local time near the city of Atacames. That quake flattened homes and buildings up and down a long stretch of Ecuador's northwestern Pacific coast. Among the hardest hit areas was the city and province of Esmeraldas. (reference #11718)