A 7.5 magnitude earthquake has hit Ecuador on its border with Peru.
Camera IconA 7.5 magnitude earthquake has hit Ecuador on its border with Peru. Credit: Supplied

Huge 7.5 magnitude earthquake strikes Ecuador, Peru border

AAPNews Corp Australia Network

A deep magnitude 7.5 earthquake has struck the Peru-Ecuador border region, causing tremors that the Ecuadorean president said were felt around the country.

The quake’s epicentre was in a sparsely populated area 224km east-southeast of Ambato, Ecuador, at a depth of 132km, the United States Geological Survey said.

The USGS’s initial reading assessed the quake, which occurred at 5.17am local time (9:20pm AEDT) on Friday, at magnitude 7.7.

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There was no risk of a tsunami being triggered, according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre, and there were no initial reports of casualties or damage.

Ecuadorean President Lenin Moreno said on Twitter that preliminary reports “do not indicate major damage”, though he added that provincial response teams had been activated and that the tremors had been “felt throughout the country”.

Ecuador's President Lenin Moreno.
Camera IconEcuador's President Lenin Moreno. Credit: AFP

One resident in Cuenca, Ecuador, 253km from the epicentre, described the temblor as very strong, while a second resident there reported experiencing “a good 30-second shake”, according to witness statements on the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre website.

A 7.8 magnitude quake in Ecuador killed around 700 people in 2016.

Originally published as Huge earthquake strikes Ecuador