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The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was centered 16 miles south-southeast of Muisne on the country's coast.

Some 246 people have been killed and hundreds more injured in the worst earthquake to hit the country since 1979.

Distressing photos showed rescuers dragging the body of very young boy from the wreckage of collapsed building.

Quake sent residents fleeing for their lives and was felt as far away as Colombia - where it shook Cali and Popayan

A collapsed bridge in Guayaquil, Ecuador, after the powerful earthquake hit the country.

Cars travel on a darkened street using only their headlights to guide the way after the failure of electrical service in Guayaquil.

Patients and relatives wait outside the Colombia Clinic in Cali, Colombia.

A group of patients are evacuated from Columbia clinic due to the presence of cracks in the building.

The top floor of this house collapsed during the shaking, while the bottom floor remained intact.

A house is left in ruins after the disaster struck last night, sparking fears of a tsunami and sending residents fleeing for their lives.

Ecuador's President Rafael Correa, who is in Rome, called on residents to stay strong while authorities monitor events.

A group of residents stand on a pile of rubble in which mattresses and other possessions are seen lying within the concrete.

A man walks along the top of a collapsed building in the immediate aftermath of the deadly earthquake.

Among those killed was the driver of a car crushed by an overpass that buckled in Guayaquil, the country's most populous city.

Residents survey destroyed housing following the earthquake in Guayaquil that has killed at least 238 people and injured hundreds.

Police inspect a car that was crushed when the overpass buckled and collapsed during the shaking in the coastal city.

Police officers stand guard next to a collapsed overpass in Guayaquil, Ecuador after the earthquake rattled the area just after nightfall.

Residents walk on a street amid destroyed buildings following the earthquake last night in Guayaquil, Ecuador.

Rescue workers work to pull out survivors trapped in a collapsed building in the city of Manta.

The death toll was expected to rise today as rescuers reached the sparsely populated area where the quake was centered.

Corpses were pulled from beneath collapsed buildings and locals said children remained trapped underneath the rubble.

Around 13,500 security force personnel were mobilized to keep order around Ecuador following the earthquake which levelled towns like Portoviejo.

Coastal areas nearest the quake were worst affected, especially Pedernales (pictured), a rustic tourist spot with beaches and palm trees.

There were reports of at least 163 aftershocks and a state of emergency was declared in six provinces (pictured, a destroyed hair salon in Portoviejo).

Several cars were crushed by collapsed bricks and mortar after the 7.8-magnitude quake in Portoviejo, Ecuador.

'The immediate priority is to rescue people in the rubble,' Ecuador's President Rafael Correa, rushing home from a trip to Italy, wrote on Twitter today.

Vice President Jorge Glas said the death toll will likely rise further in what he called the 'worst seismic movement we have faced in decades'.

The earthquake struck 16 miles off the coast of Musine - a fishing town popular with tourists (pictured, a woman weeps as rescuers search for her daughter's body among the rubble).

The quake shook the entire Andean country of 16 million people, causing panic as far away as the highland capital Quito.

Entire villages were flattened, and tall buildings demolished, when the earthquake struck off Ecuador's west coast.

The debris of a collapsed house is cleared after an earthquake struck off the Pacific coast, in Guayaquil, Ecuador.

People search for their belongings amid the debris of their destroyed homes after a massive earthquake in Pedernales, Ecuador.

More than 2,500 were injured when the 7.8 magnitude earthquake, the strongest to hit Ecuador since 1979.

The death toll from Ecuador's biggest earthquake in decades soared to at least 246 today (pictured, the destruction in Pedernales).

A young boy weeps uncontrollably after finding out his sister has been killed in the earthquake in Pedernales, Ecuador.

A human hand is seen amid the rubble after a 7.8-magnitude quake in Pedernales, Ecuador.

Rescuers dragged the body of what appears to be a very young boy from the rubble of a collapsed building following a devastating earthquake in Ecuador.