The official death toll rose to 233 Sunday after a devastating earthquake rocked the South American country of Ecuador this weekend.
The new number, announced by President Rafael Correa Sunday morning, is a increase from the 77 dead reported previously.
A magnitude-7.8 earthquake hit the country Saturday. It is reported to have destroyed buildings in a number of towns in the country of 15 million people. Correa declared a national emergency and warned citizens of debris, fallen poles and power outages.
Though NOAA’s Pacific Tsunami Warning Center initially warned of tsunamis impacting Ecuador’s coastline, it later said the threat had largely passed.
“Thank you to the whole world for solidarity,” Correa said on Twitter. “Our infinite love to the families of the dead.” The president is returning back to his country from a conference at the Vatican in Rome.
The U.S. Geological Survey reports that large earthquakes are common in Ecuador. This weekend’s natural disaster is the deadliest since a magnitude-7.2 earthquake in 1987, which took about 1,000 lives.
Just last week, there were reports of two other large deadly earthquakes in Japan, where a magnitude-6.2 earthquake was followed by a magnitude 7.0 earthquake.
