The death toll from the 7.8 magnitude earthquake which struck Ecuador has risen to 350, the country's president has said. At least 2,527 people are known to be injured.

The number of fatalities has risen several times, according to president Rafael Correa, and it is still rising.

Emergency services fear more people are trapped under the rubble, while traumatised survivors are sitting amidst their ruined homes, according to Reuters.

Mr Correa first said there had been 233 casualties on Twitter, where he said the town of Pedernales had been "destroyed."

“We're trying to do the most we can but there's almost nothing we can do,” said the mayor of Pedernales, Gabriel Alcivar. Pedernales is a town of approximately 40,000 that was near the epicentre of the quake, the Associated Press reports. “This wasn't just a house that collapsed, it was an entire town.”

Mr Alcivar pled for officials to send emergency workers and earth-moving machines to sort through the rubble. Looting had broken out in the chaos that ensued, but he said that local authorities were too pre-occupied with trying to save lives to regain control of the city.

Vice President Jorge Glas was on the scene within hours of the quake. He said in a televised statement that deaths in the South American country stretched as far as the cities of Manta, Portoviejo, and Guayaquil, hundreds of kilometers away from the epicenter. He said that some 10,000 troops were being deployed to assist the regions affected by the earthquake; 4,600 national police were en route to the towns near the centre that were hit hardest.

In the wake of the largest earthquake to hit Ecuador since 1979, more than 588 people were reported injured after the quake flattened buildings and buckled highways.

Ecuador earthquake in pictures Show all 16 1 /16 Ecuador earthquake in pictures Ecuador earthquake in pictures Ecuador earthquake in pictures Ecuador earthquake in pictures Ecuador earthquake in pictures Ecuador earthquake in pictures Ecuador earthquake in pictures People stand amongst the rubble of fallen homes in Manta, after a powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Ecuador Ecuador earthquake in pictures A collapsed bridge after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit the city of Guayaquil, Ecuador, late 16 April 2016. At least 77 people were killed and hundreds injured in an earthquake affecting the Ecuadoran northern coastal region. EPA/Freddy Constante Ecuador earthquake in pictures Police officers stand next to a collapsed overpass in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Saturday April 16 2016. The strongest earthquake to hit Ecuador in decades flattened buildings and buckled highways along the country's coast, killing at least 41 people and causing damage hundreds of kilometres away from the epicenter in the capital and other major cities. AP Photo/Jeff Castro Ecuador earthquake in pictures Rescue workers work to pull out survivors trapped in a collapsed building after a huge earthquake struck, in the city of Manta early on April 17 2016. At least 41 people were killed when a powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Ecuador, destroying buildings and sending terrified residents dashing from their homes, authorities said late on April 16. Ariel Ochoa/AFP/Getty Images Ecuador earthquake in pictures People walk near a damaged house after an earthquake struck off the Pacific coast in Manta, Ecuador, April 16 2016. REUTERS/Paul Ochoa Ecuador earthquake in pictures People stand on the debris of a building after an earthquake struck off the Pacific coast in Manta, Ecuador, April 16 2016. REUTERS/Paul Ochoa Ecuador earthquake in pictures People gather next to a collapsed house in Guayaquil on April 17, 2016. At least 41 people have been killed by the powerful earthquake that struck western Ecuador on Saturday and the toll will likely rise further, the country's Vice President Jorge Glas said. JOSE SANCHEZ L/AFP/Getty Images Ecuador earthquake in pictures People stand amongst the rubble of fallen homes in Manta on April 17, 2016, after a powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Ecuador on April 16. At least 77 people were killed when a powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Ecuador, destroying buildings and a bridge and sending terrified residents scrambling from their homes, authorities in the Latin American country said on April 17. JUAN CEVALLOS/AFP/Getty Images Ecuador earthquake in pictures View of rubble after a 7.8-magnitude quake in Portoviejo, Ecuador on April 17, 2016. At least 77 people were killed when a powerful earthquake struck Ecuador, destroying buildings and a bridge and sending terrified residents scrambling from their homes, authorities said Sunday. JUAN CEVALLOS/AFP/Getty Images Ecuador earthquake in pictures People help clean rubble after a 7.8-magnitude quake in Portoviejo, Ecuador on April 17, 2016. At least 77 people were killed when a powerful earthquake struck Ecuador, destroying buildings and a bridge and sending terrified residents scrambling from their homes, authorities said Sunday. JUAN CEVALLOS/AFP/Getty Images Ecuador earthquake in pictures People watch a collapsed house in Guayaquil on April 17, 2016. At least 41 people have been killed by the powerful earthquake that struck western Ecuador on Saturday and the toll will likely rise further, the country's Vice President Jorge Glas said. JOSE SANCHEZ L/AFP/Getty Images

Mr Correa declared a national emergency and rushed home from a visit to Rome, urging Ecuadoreans to stay strong while authorities handle the disaster.

"Everything can be rebuilt, but what can't be rebuilt are human lives, and that's the most painful," he said in a telephone call to state TV before departing Rome straight for Manta.

He said in a later interview that the damage will cost billions of dollars.

The US Geological Survey [USGS] said the shallow quake, the strongest to hit Ecuador since 1979, was centred on south-southeast of Muisne, an area of fishing ports popular with tourists.

Kumamoto registered a 6.8 magnitude quake on Thursday, followed by a 7.0 magnitude the next day. Forty-one people were killed and roughly 1,500 people were injured.

The 7.8 measurement of the earthquake in Ecuador matches that of the 1906 earthquake that reduced the city of San Francisco to rubble, according to USGS figures.

David Rothery, Professor of Planetary Geosciences at The Open University, said that the 7.8 magnitude of the earthquake meant that "shaking at its underground source was about six times stronger than in the magnitude 7.0 earthquake in southern Japan just over a day before. The total energy involved was probably about 20 times greater."

He said it was caused by the floor of the Pacific Ocean (the Nazca plate) being moved below South America. "The greater damage to buildings and the probable greater loss of life in Ecuador may reflect poorer adherence to seismic building codes in the construction of buildings and bridges."

The fact that the epicentre of the earthquake was onshore meant that the damage was greater than if it had been offshore, he added, but that if it had been offshore "there would have been the potential to displace the ocean water strongly enough to cause a tsunami powerful enough to cause damage on both local and more distant coastlines."