Dozens of buildings destroyed, 20 injured in Ecuador quake

A shallow 6.3-magnitude earthquake left at least 20 people injured, dozens of buildings damaged and knocked out power in the Ecuadorian port city of Esmeraldas on Friday.

According to Ecuador's emergency response services, the 20 injured people suffered head and other wounds in the earthquake, which was felt as far away as the capital Quito.

"It was very strong," former presidential candidate Yaku Perez told AFP from the scene.

"It felt like an eternity, but I guess it was less than a minute."

An AFP reporter in Esmeraldas witnessed tumbledown walls, facades that had collapsed onto a road in a pile of debris and several cracked buildings.

The authorities said 60 homes and a health centre had been damaged, while the facade of a military building partially collapsed. Two roads and a bridge were also damaged.

National oil company Petroecuador said it had "suspended operations" at the Esmeraldas refinery and a nearby pipeline.

The refinery produces 111,000 barrels a day and the Trans-Ecuadorian Pipeline System transports 360,000 barrels a day.

Daniel Noboa, the South American nation's newly re-elected president, said he was rushing ministers to the scene to help coordinate the building of shelters and the delivery of humanitarian aid.

"The government is with you, and that's how it will be going forward," he said on social media.

The US Geological Survey and local monitors said the quake struck just off the coast at a depth of about 35 kilometres (22 miles) shortly before 7:00 am local time (1200 GMT).

Ecuadoran authorities said there was no tsunami risk from the quake.

Ecuador sits on one of the most geologically active zones on Earth, and the fault between the Nazca and South American plates runs along its coast.

The Geophysical Institute said that "the convergence of the Nazca and South American plates, which have a movement speed of 5.6 centimetres (2.2 inches) per year, is the process that generates the largest earthquakes in the country."

There were no reports of injuries across the border in neighbouring Colombia.

Last week, Ecuador marked the anniversary of the 2016 earthquake that struck the coasts of Manabi and Esmeraldas. With a magnitude of 7.8, it left 673 dead and about 6,300 injured.