MAJOR EARTHQUAKES IN JAPAN AND ECUADOR

Posted on 04/18/2016 | About Ecuador

Both Japan and Ecuador were hit by powerful earthquakes over the weekend resulting in numerous deaths and major destruction. Federal officials say two Canadians are among at least 233 people killed in Ecuador.

Japan The US military is joining relief efforts in southern Japan for areas devastated by two powerful earthquakes. Meanwhile, local rescuers are combing through debris for people still reported missing. 

Authorities say at least 42 people were killed and nearly 1,100 were injured in the two quakes that hit the region near Kumamoto city late Thursday and early Sunday. 

Thousands of rescue workers searched a debris-strewn village in southern Japan for about a half-dozen missing people Sunday, as the Japanese government said US military aircraft would join the relief mission for communities devastated by two powerful earthquakes that killed 41 people. 

The search is concentrated in Minamiaso, which means South Aso, a village in a mountainous area southwest of 1,592-meter (5,223-foot) Mount Aso, the largest active volcano in Japan. Landslides from the second earthquake early Saturday morning have blocked roads and destroyed bridges, making it difficult to access the area east of Kumamoto, a city of 740,000 on the southwestern island of Kyushu. 

Ecuador A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Ecuador's Pacific Ocean coast over the weekend. At least 272 people were killed, highways buckled and homes and buildings were flattened. President Rafael Correa says Saturday night's quake was the worst natural disaster to hit Ecuador since a 1949 earthquake in the Andean city of Ambato, which took more than 5,000 lives. 

Global Affairs Canada spokeswoman Rachna Mishra confirms two Quebecers were among the victims of the earthquake, centred about 170 kilometres northwest of the capital, Quito. 

Global Affairs says consular officials are in contact with the families of the two Canadians, who have not been named. Reports out of Ecuador said rescuers are struggling to reach survivors trapped in the ruins of fallen buildings. 

Shanty towns and cheaply constructed brick and concrete homes were reduced to rubble along the quake's path, while in Guayaquil a shopping centre's roof fell down and a collapsed highway overpass crushed a car. In Manta, the airport closed after the control tower collapsed, injuring an air traffic control worker and a security guard. 

The quake was felt in neighbouring Colombia and more than 135 aftershocks followed, including a magnitude-5.6 aftershock.