The 7.8 earthquake shook building for about 40 seconds and sent people running into the streets.

The death toll from Ecuador's biggest earthquake in decades soared to at least 238 on Monday as rescuers using tractors and bare hands hunted desperately for survivors in shattered coastal towns.

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GUILLERMO GRANJA/REUTERS Red Cross members, military and police officers search through rubble in Manta.

The 7.8 magnitude quake struck off the Pacific coast on Saturday and was felt around the Andean nation of 16 million people, causing panic as far away as the highland capital Quito and collapsing buildings and roads in a swathe of western towns.

President Rafael Correa, who was rushing home from a trip to Italy, said the confirmed number of fatalities rose on Sunday to 238. More than 1500 people were injured, authorities said.

GUILLERMO GRANJA/REUTERS Police officers stand on debris in Manta.

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The quake was 19 kilometres deep and centred 27km south-southeast of Muisne, in a tourist area of fishing ports. At the epicentre, damage was "considerable", the government said.

USGS The quake happened about midday Sunday (NZ time).

It hit at 7pm (midday NZT), 173km northwest of the capital, Quito, where it shook buildings for about 40 seconds, sending people running out into the streets. Extensive power cuts were also reported.

Correa declared a national emergency and urged the Andean nation's 16 million people to stay calm.

"Our infinite love to the families of the dead," he said on Twitter, while cutting short a trip to Italy to return home.

GUILLERMO GRANJA/REUTERS People walk by damaged buildingsin Manta's Tarqui neighbourhood.

...Portoviejo, aunque seguimos recibiendo información.

Nuestro infinito amor a las familias de los fallecidos. — Rafael Correa (@MashiRafael) April 17, 2016

Coastal areas nearest the quake were worst affected, especially Pedernales, a rustic tourist spot with beaches and palm trees. Information was scant from there due to poor communications and transport chaos.

"There are people trapped in various places and we are starting rescue operations," Vice President Jorge Glas said on Sunday morning before boarding a plane to the area.

GUILLERMO GRANJA/REUTERS Red Cross members arrive at Eloy Alfaro airport.

A state of emergency was declared in six provinces.

"There are villages totally devastated," Pedernales' mayor Gabriel Alcivar told local radio, adding that "dozens and dozens" had died in the rustic zone.

"What happened here in Pedernales is catastrophic."

GUILLERMO GRANJA/REUTERS Police officers search through a collapsed home.

PEDERNALES 'DESTROYED'

Authorities said there were 135 aftershocks in the Pedernales area.

One photo on social media purporting to be the entrance to Pedernales showed a torn up road with a crushed car in the middle and people standing behind.

REUTERS Buildings were destroyed near the quake's epicentre.

Local TV station Televicentro broadcast images from Pedernales showing locals using a small tractor to remove rubble and also search with their hands for people buried underneath. Women cried after a corpse was pulled out. Locals said children were trapped.

One man begged for help: "Pedernales is destroyed."

In Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest city, rubble lay in the streets and a bridge fell on top of a car.

1 of 1 @ORLYNG/TWITTER Damage can be seen to the small coastal town of Pedernales.

"It was terrifying, we were all scared and we're still out in the streets because we're worried about aftershocks," said Guayaquil security guard Fernando Garcia.

About 13,500 security force personnel were mobilized to keep order around Ecuador, and US$600 million (NZ$867 million) in credit from multilateral lenders was immediately activated for the emergency, the government said.

Ramon Solorzano, 46, a car parts merchant in the coastal city of Manta, said he was leaving with his family. Photos from Manta showed Red Cross workers arriving, police hunting through debris, a smashed sculpture and badly-damaged buildings.

REUTERS The death toll from the quake is expected to rise, with hundreds also injured.

"Most people are out in the streets with backpacks on, heading for higher ground," Solorzano said, speaking in a trembling voice on a WhatsApp phone call. "The streets are cracked. The power is out and phones are down."

WORST QUAKE SINCE 1979

Parts of the highland capital Quito were without power or phone service for several hours but the city government said those services had been restored and there were no reports of casualties in the city.

REUTERS Rescuers search for survivors in collapsed buildings in Manta.

The government called it the worst quake in the country since 1979. In that disaster, 600 people were killed and 20,000 injured, according to the United States Geological Survey.

Among international aid, Venezuela and Mexico were sending personnel and supplies, the Correa government said.

A tsunami warning was lifted on Saturday night but coastal residents were urged to seek higher ground in case tides rise.

REUTERS Rescuers survey the debris of a collapsed building.

"At first it was light, but it lasted a long time and got stronger," said Maria Jaramillo, 36, a resident of Guayaquil, describing windows breaking and pieces falling off roofs.

"I was on the seventh floor and the light went off in the whole sector, and we evacuated. People were very anxious in the street ... We left barefoot."

The Opec member said oil production was not affected, but closed its main refinery of Esmeraldas, located near the epicenter, as a precautionary measure.

REUTERS Homes suffered severe damage in the quake.

The Ecuadorean quake followed two large and deadly quakes that struck Japan since Thursday. Both countries are located on the seismically active "Ring of Fire" that circles the Pacific, but according to the US Geological Survey large quakes separated by such long distances would probably not be related.

"Even the earth's rocky crust is not rigid enough to transfer stress efficiently over thousands of miles," it said on its web site. Quakes can cause other big quakes within a range of hundreds of miles, but can cause only small, brief quakes at a distance of thousands of miles, it said.

KIWIS URGED TO CONTACT FAMILY

A spokeswoman for Civil Defence New Zealand there was no tsunami risk and no threats to New Zealand.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) said 29 New Zealanders were currently registered as being in Ecuador. However, there was no information to suggest there were any New Zealand victims, based on discussions with Ecuadorian authorities.

Kiwis in the area should follow the advice of local authorities and contact family in New Zealand to keep them updated, an MFAT spokesman said. Anyone requiring assistance could contact the New Zealand embassy in Santiago, Chile.

Facebook had activated its "safety check" feature, which allowed people to see if their friends in Ecuador were safe.

The quake comes a day after a devastating 7.3-magnitude shake in Japan, which had killed at least 32 people, injured 1000 and saw quarter of a million more ordered to leave their homes by authorities. It was the second major quake to hit the island of Kyushu in just over 24 hours. The first killed nine.

There were reports of widespread damage following the earthquake, and power outages.

In the port city of Guayaquil, an overpass collapsed on top of a car and the roof of a shopping centre buckled. In Manta, the airport was closed after the control tower suffered severe damages. Guayaquil's international airport was also closed because of a lack of communications.

Photos of shopping centres in Quito with their roofs collapsing were being uploaded online, but authorities said they were still surveying the damage.

Several aftershocks, some as strong as 5.6 on the Richter scale, continued in the hour after the first quake, which occurred at nightfall, local time.

Confused residents in the capital Quito streamed into the streets and authorities warned of strong waves on the Andean nation's coast.

"I was in my house watching a movie and everything started to shake. I ran out into the street and now I don't know what's going to happen," said Lorena Cazares, 36, a telecommunications worker in Quito.

"I'm in a state of panic," said Zoila Villena. "My building moved a lot and things fell to the floor. Lots of neighbours were screaming and kids crying."

Viv and Allan Robinson said they were walking along the street in the La Ronda district of Quito when the earthquake struck.

"There are lots of restaurants and bars in the area and it is Saturday night, so the area was crowded. The shake was quite strong. ... I could feel the road moving under me and all the streetlights were swaying.

"Many people came out of the shops and restaurants and stood in the street ... a bit scary as we were surrounded by old, three-storey buildings made of stone and concrete with clay tile roofs.

"We didn't notice any damage ... but we did get a fright."

#bahia de #guayaquil #temblor #ecuador A photo posted by Que Hacer en Guayaquil ℹ (@quehacerenguayaquil) on Apr 16, 2016 at 6:01pm PDT

- Reuters, AP, Stuff