Ecuador earthquake deathtoll rises to 41, and expected to rise further
QUITO - The strongest earthquake to hit Ecuador in decades flattened buildings and buckled highways along the country's coast, killing at least 41 people and causing damage hundreds of miles (kilometers) away from the epicenter in the capital and other major cities.
The death toll was expected to rise on Sunday as rescuers reached the sparsely populated area of fishing ports and tourist beaches where the magnitude-7.8 quake was centered.
Vice President Jorge Glas said in a televised address late Saturday that there were initial reports of 41 dead in the cities of Manta, Portoviejo and Guayaquil -- all several hundred kilometers (miles) from where the quake struck shortly after nightfall.
