Ecuador Internacional

Ecuador tries to put the pieces together a month after quake

The Washington Post - Gonzalo Solano and Dolores Ochoa 17/05/2016

In this May 15, 2016 photo, tents set up for people displaced by last month’s earthquake stand in rows at the new bus terminal in Pedernales, Ecuador. A month after the magnitude 7.8 earthquake many Ecuadorians are still struggling. (Dolores Ochoa/Associated Press)

In this May 15, 2016 photo, tents set up for people displaced by last month’s earthquake stand in rows at the new bus terminal in Pedernales, Ecuador. A month after the magnitude 7.8 earthquake many Ecuadorians are still struggling. (Dolores Ochoa/Associated Press)

A month after a devastating earthquake flattened the Ecuadorian beach town of Pedernales, people are still living in tarp shelters and schools remain closed. Just a third of the rubble has been swept from the streets.

Some of those whose homes were wrecked survive by scavenging through the debris and panhandling. And some go hungry.

Officials deployed a giant flag over the town Monday to commemorate those who died in the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that killed 660 and initially left tens of thousands homeless.

Aid poured in from around the world, but officials say more than 7,000 people remain without a home.

Ecuador was already struggling economically before the disaster. President Rafael Correa has hiked taxes to fund the recovery but says it will take years to rebuild the beach towns and tourist hubs leveled by the quake.

He urged the country to keep its spirits up Monday.

“The pain is immense, but the hope is greater,” he wrote on Twitter, adding that the country had proved its mettle in the face of the tragedy.

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