The Cause
On April 16th 2016 the coastal province of Manabí was devastated by an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 on the Richter scale. With an official death toll over 600 people and thousands of buildings destroyed in the province, the largest city in the area, Manta, was in ruins. Humanitarian relief flooded in from all parts of the world to rescue people trapped in rubble and prevent the disaster from becoming any worse. The days after the earthquake were difficult with no electricity or running water, and many people were moved into temporary tent villages since they had no homes to go back to. Aftershocks were also a problem for the next week and many people were afraid to enter any buildings again, for fear that there could be another earthquake or that the building’s integrity was damaged. In one day the lives of everyone in the city and this province were changed forever.