Portoviejo : The biggest earthquake in Ecuador in decades has killed 272 people -- but that toll will 'certainly' rise even further, the president said on Sunday as overwhelmed rescuers struggled to pull survivors out of the destruction.
The 7.8-magnitude quake struck the small, oil-producing South American nation late Saturday, shattering hotels and homes along its Pacific coast popular with tourists and reducing several towns to rubble.
More than 2,000 people were injured as structures tumbled during the quake or its dozens of aftershocks.
The capital Quito, farther inland, escaped with cracked walls and power outages, and the country's strategic oil facilities appeared unscathed, officials said.
But along the coast, the devastation prompted neighboring Colombia, as well as quake-experienced Mexico and El Salvador, to rush in rescue personnel to help out.
In Portoviejo, a city 15 kilometers (10 miles) from the coast, the temblor knocked down walls in a prison, allowing 100 inmates to escape.
Some were recaptured or returned later, but police were hunting the others, Justice Minister Ledy Zuniga tweeted.
Elsewhere in hard-hit Portoviejo, the stench of decaying bodies began to fill the tropical air as rescuers raced to find survivors.
"We have already recovered three dead and we believe there are 10 to 11 people still trapped," said one worker digging through the debris of what used to be a six-story hotel called El Gato.
