At least 12 individuals have been killed, one was wounded and buildings have been broken in a strong earthquake that shook Peru and Ecuador Saturday, Ecuador’s presidency stated.

Destroyed buildings, crushed autos and particles could possibly be seen in cities comparable to Machala and Cuenca in Ecuador, as rescue officers rushed to lend help and panicked residents bumped into the streets.

The quake, which the United States Geological Survey (USGS) put at magnitude 6.8 and a depth of almost 41 miles (66 kilometers), struck at 12:12 native time (1712 GMT).

Its epicenter was within the Ecuadoran municipality of Balao, close to the border with Peru, authorities stated.

“I went out into the street because I saw people starting to run in panic, getting out of their cars,” Magaly Escandon, a stitching provides saleswoman in Cuenca, informed AFP.

“So far, 12 deaths are reported (11 in the province of El Oro and one in the province of Azuay),” Ecuador’s presidency stated in a tweet.

The tremor was additionally strongly felt in different cities together with Guayaquil, Quito, Manabi and Manta, social media experiences stated.

No casualties or main injury has been reported in Peru to date, the place the quake seems to have been much less intense.

Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso urged individuals to stay “calm and to be informed through official channels” about injury to buildings in a message on Twitter.

According to Quito’s Risk Management Office, the facade of a home collapsed on a car and left “a deceased person” in Cuenca. AFP journalists within the metropolis additionally reported that previous homes within the historic middle had been broken.

Nearby, within the province of El Oro, three individuals have been reported lifeless when a tower toppled and fatally crushed them.

“It is a relatively high magnitude for what we have in the country,” stated Mario Ruiz, director of the Ecuadorian Geophysical Institute in an interview with FM Mundo radio.

Peruvian seismological authorities initially reported a magnitude of seven.0, however hours later downgraded the magnitude to six.7.

Hernando Tavera, head of the National Seismological Center of Peru, assured RPP radio that “there is no significant damage to the structure or people” within the nation.

A primary aftershock of magnitude 4.8 was recorded in Balao, Ecuador. The Ecuadoran navy stated there was no tsunami menace.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)