Guayaquil

Juan Vera lost three relatives when a strong earthquake that shook parts of Ecuador and Peru on Saturday brought down his niece's home. The government has offered to pay for the woman's funeral and those of her baby and her partner, but Vera wonders why local authorities allowed his relatives to live in such an old home to begin with.

Ecuadoran President Guillermo Lasso announced on April 29 he had decreed a state of emergency for two months in three provinces with the highest registered levels of violence due to drug trafficking.

"I have declared a state of exception in the (coastal) provinces of Guayas, Manabi and Esmeraldas, effective from midnight tonight," he said in a speech broadcast by state media.

Ecuador's President Rafael Correa says the death toll from a magnitude-7.8 earthquake has risen to 233. Correa sent the new figure on his official Twitter account while flying home from Rome to deal with the emergency.

A powerful earthquake killed at least 77 people, injured hundreds more, ravaged coastal towns and sent residents fleeing for higher ground in Ecuador on April 16 night.