Posted on 08/13/2014 7:14:29 AM PDT by mgist
Two people killed and eight injured in Ecuador earthquake 5.1-magnitude tremor near capital Quito caused landslide at a quarry that left workers dead
People watch dust sweep the pan-American highway after the earthquake near Quito. Photograph: Dolores Ochoa/AP
Two people have been killed in an earthquake in Ecuador, with eight others wounded and rescue workers still seeking to free those trapped.
The 5.1-magnitude tremor near capital Quito triggered a landslide at a quarry that killed two workers there, the national risk control agency said, adding that firemen were searching for three others.
"Obviously the landslide was caused by the tremor, but there was already weakness there due to illegal mining … or quarries being exploited improperly," President Rafael Correa told reporters in the port city of Guayaquil.
Separately, the mayor of Quito reported that only one person died in the landslide and that a four-year-old boy was killed in another part of the city when sacks of rice fell on top of him.
Social media showed images of dust clouds that had formed after the tremor as a result of shifting earth.
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
Beautiful city.
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