In Quake-Devastated Ecuador, Loss Piles Up Amid the Rubble

A man holds a child next to a collapsed building caused by a 7.8 earthquake in Portoviejo, Ecuador, Sunday April 17, 2016. A magnitude-7.8 quake, the strongest since 1979, hit Ecuador flattening buildings, buckling highways along its Pacific coast and killing hundreds. AP Photo/Carlos Sacoto

PORTOVIEJO, Ecuador—It was supposed to be a family reunion to celebrate a young relative’s start of college. But the gathering ended in tragedy when a collapsing building crushed 17-year-old Sayira Quinde, her mother, father and toddler brother in their rusting Chevy Blazer.

The Ecuadorean spirit knows how to move forward, and will know how to overcome these very difficult moments.

— Rafael Correa, President of Ecuador