One person was killed and 85 injured Wednesday as two strong aftershocks shook Ecuador a month after a devastating earthquake left some 700 dead, President Rafael Correa said.
"We regret to report the death of one adult," Correa told a Press conference after Ecuadorans were awakened by a 6.8-magnitude quake, followed by another measuring 6.7.
The extent of damage from the second quake was not immediately clear, though President Rafael Correa announced on Twitter some areas along the coast had lost power and said schools would be cancelled nationwide as a precaution. The first caused little serious damage.
Both appeared to be aftershocks of a magnitude 7.8 quake a month earlier.
The US Geological Survey said the second quake hit at 11:46am and was centred along the coast below land about 24km northwest of the city of Rosa Zarate.
The earlier quake was centred less than about 10km away and struck shortly before 3 a.m. local time. Both are less than 155km west-northwest of the capital, Quito.
"These sort of aftershocks are normal but that doesn't mean they're not scary and can cause damage," Correa said in a televised address after the early morning shake. He added that aftershocks of this magnitude were normal for up to two months after a major quake like the one Ecuador experienced.
The president said that while some previously ravaged homes suffered more damage, most had already been evacuated and no buildings had collapsed. There were no reports of fatalities, he said.
Security coordination minister Cesar Navas said one person was injured when a wall fell and five others were hurt in panicky efforts to flee buildings.
The magnitude 7.8 earthquake on April 16 was Ecuador's worst natural disaster in decades, killing 661 and leaving more than 28,000 people homeless. It has been followed by hundreds of aftershocks, at least five of them of magnitude 6.0 or higher.
Ecuador was already struggling economically before the April disaster. Correa has hiked taxes to fund the recovery but says it will take years to rebuild the beach towns and tourist hubs levelled by the quake.