According to the El Telegrafo newspaper, 16 people were killed in the city of Portoviejo, 10 died in the city of Manta and two others became victims of the quake in the Guayas province.
Tremors were recorded at 11:58 p.m. UTC time (02:58 MSK). According to the USGS, the epicenter of the quake was 17 miles away from the coastal town of Muisne and just over 100 miles away from the capital Quito.
Damage in Quito, Ecuador from the 7.8 magnitude earthquake. pic.twitter.com/h5l2Q4KsWS— Scott Meiklejohn (@ScottyTWN) April 17, 2016
Images of the destruction caused by #EcuadorEarthquake. State of emergency declared. #Ecuador pic.twitter.com/v7NzE2AX0C
— Natasha Fatah (@NatashaFatah) April 17, 2016
"Tsunami waves reaching 0.3 to 1 meters above the tide level are possible for some coasts of Ecuador," the PTWC said in a statement.
Well, 'they' did say 'soon'.