Chancellor Angela Merkel has contacted Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa Delgado to express the profound sorrow of the German government and the German people for the many earthquake victims, reported federal government spokesperson Steffen Seibert in Berlin.
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The deepest sympathy of all Germans goes to the people affected by this disaster, he said.
In a telegram to Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa Delgado, Chancellor Angela Merkel has expressed the "deep shock and sympathy of the German government and the German people, given the many victims of this severe earthquake", reported government spokesperson Steffen Seibert at the government press conference.
Steffen Seibert offered the most sincere condolences of all Germans to the people who have been affected, especially the families of victims. The Chancellor, he said, has wished all those injured in the earthquake a speedy recovery.
Steffen Seibert added, "The same sympathy, naturally also goes to the Japanese people." Japan has experienced two severe earthquakes over the last few days, one on Thursday and one on Saturday.
At the weekend the German Embassy in Quito offered the government of Ecuador any assistance it requires, added the spokesperson of the Federal Foreign Office Martin Schäfer. Today, he added, European Union bodies will meet to discuss assistance to support the Ecuadorian government.
On Saturday (16 April) a magnitude-7.8 earthquake struck around 19:00 local time. More than 270 people are currently known to have lost their lives. Over 2,500 people were injured, and several hundred are still unaccounted for. The epicentre was in the province of Esmeraldas in the north-west of the country, 170 km from the capital, Quito. It was the most powerful earthquake recorded in Ecuador since 1979.