Ecuador's government regarding earthquake says, “the death toll from last week’s devastating magnitude-7.8 earthquake has increases to 654 with another 58 people missing”

Secretariat for risk management’s website said, “113 people had been rescued alive following the quake that flattened coastal towns and more than 25,000 people remained in shelters.”

The death toll from Ecuador's quake has beat that of Peru's 2007 temblor, making it the deadliest earthquake in South America since single in Colombia in 1999 killed more than 1,000 people.

President Rafael Correa said, “ the quake caused USD 3 billion in damage and warned that the reconstruction effort will take years. His administration is temporarily raising taxes to fund the recovery.”