Magnitude 6.0 aftershock strikes near Ecuador coast: USGS

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Firefighters wear white colored suits to care for the biological risk arising from the putrefaction of the corpses during the clean-up operations and rescue of the earthquake victims in Manta on April 20, 2016. The death toll from Ecuador's earthquake was set to rise sharply after authorities warned that 1,700 people were still missing and anger gripped families of victims trapped in the rubble. A 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Ecuador Wednesday, sowing new panic four days after a more powerful quake killed more than 525 people, with hundreds still missing. / AFP PHOTO / Juan Cevallos
Firefighters wear white colored suits to care for the biological risk arising from the putrefaction of the corpses during the clean-up operations and rescue of the earthquake victims in Manta on April 20, 2016. The death toll from Ecuador’s earthquake was set to rise sharply after authorities warned that 1,700 people were still missing and anger gripped families of victims trapped in the rubble. A 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Ecuador Wednesday, sowing new panic four days after a more powerful quake killed more than 525 people, with hundreds still missing. / AFP PHOTO / Juan Cevallos

QUITO, Ecuador (AFP) — A magnitude 6.0 aftershock struck near the coast of Ecuador Thursday, as the country struggled to recover from a devastating quake that killed almost 600 people, US experts said.

The tremor hit at 10:03 pm (0303 GMT Friday) some 20 miles (33 kilometers) north-northwest of Bahia de Caraquez and 36 miles north-northwest of Tosagua, the US Geological Survey said.

AFP reporters in the region felt some shaking but there were no reports of casualties or damage. No tsunami warning was issued.

It was one of numerous aftershocks following Saturday’s 7.8-magnitude quake, the worst to hit the South American country in nearly four decades.

The official death toll from that quake rose to 587 on Thursday, with 5,733 injured. Scores of people are still missing.

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