Kim Hjelmgaard

USA TODAY

Two powerful earthquakes struck Ecuador Wednesday, leaving at least one dead, president Rafael Correa said.

The full extent of the damage of the second earthquake, which hit 15 miles north of the city of Rosa Zarate with magnitude 6.8, was not immediately clear.

"We lament the death, which was caused either directly or indirectly by the earthquake, of a senior citizen in the city of Tosagua," Correa said, referring to a city in Manabi, Reuters reported.

Correa tweeted that all classes would be canceled Wednesday to survey the damage. He added that classes at universities in Manabi and the province of Esmeraldas would be nixed until Monday.

Wednesday morning an earthquake with magnitude 6.7 happened near the Pacific coast, with the epicenter 21 miles from the town of Muisne in western Ecuador, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

These sort of aftershocks are normal but that doesn’t mean they’re not scary and can cause damage,” Correa said in an earlier televised address, the Associated Press reported.

Two provinces remained without electricity hours after the quake, he said. Correa called the quake an aftershock earlier and said it was normal. The quake April 16 in the same Pacific coast area killed 660 people and left thousands homeless.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center based in Honolulu said a tsunami was not expected off the coast of Ecuador.

Jorge Zambrano, mayor of Manta, one of the areas hit hardest by last month's big quake, told the Associated Press that streets were calm after Wednesday's temblor.

"It was a big shake and all of us were scared, but there are no major problems at the moment," he said.

Contributing: María Lourdes Hércules