It was the worst experience of my life," survivor Jose Meregildo said Sunday about the tremors that violently shook his house in Guayaquil, 300 miles away from the quake's epicenter. "Everybody in my neighborhood was screaming saying it was going to be the end of the world."
The earthquake hit Saturday around 7 p.m. while people were going about their evening. The tremors buckled overpasses trapping drivers. A shopping mall partially collapsed on customers and several buildings have been flattened with their content spilled into the streets.
All six coastal provinces -- Guayas, Manabi, Santo Domingo, Los Rios, Esmeraldas and Galapagos -- are in state of emergencies.
People left their homes and wandered around, some sleeping in the streets.
"I found my house like this," said Nely Intriago, standing in front of a pile of rubble. "What am I going to do? Cry, that's what. Now we are on the street with nothing.