Strong earthquake kills at least 16 in Ecuador, 1 in Peru

The earthquake with about 6.8 magnitude, as reported by the EMSC, killed at least 16 people, injured hundreds and brought down homes and buildings in vastly different communities, trapping others under rubble, and sending rescue teams out into streets littered with debris and fallen power lines, from coastal areas to the highlands.

But in Ecuador, regardless of geography, many of the homes that crumbled had a lot in common: They housed the poor, were old and did not meet building standards in the earthquake-prone country.