On 16 April, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck the northeast of Ecuador, killing an estimated 525 people.
Concha Fernández is the project coordinator spearheading MSF’s medical response.
“I left with the first team by road to the Esmeralda region, one of the areas most damaged. Southern Esmeralda is a large region and in some areas, between 70 and 90 percent of buildings were damaged.
One of these places was Cabo de San Francisco, where we found 200 people living in makeshift shelters with almost nothing.
Our logistician looked into water and sanitation issues and explained to people how best to organise themselves.
We treated 13 people, including a woman suffering from an infected wound. People were very afraid and they asked to speak with our psychologist, so we began providing psychosocial support to groups of women and children.
During one of the sessions, there was an aftershock, and people started running in terror. Going door-to-door Some of the team members who arrived in Pedernales went to the city’s main hospital with enough medical supplies to assist 500 people, and they are ensuring that more will be available when needed.
MSF staff and hospital staff also went door-to-door in one of the most affected neighbourhoods to provide mental health support.”
Patient stories
Silvana Santos, 26
"I'm nearly three months pregnant. I almost lost my baby on the day of the earthquake because it took a lot of effort to carry my two young children when I was fleeing from the house.
"When the doctors came they checked me over and told me that I have a tricky pregnancy and that I will have to have regular check-ups.
"But we don't know how long we're going to stay here because it might still be dangerous to return to the island.”
Wilber Mina Valencia, 53
“I was talking to my family when the earth moved. All of a sudden, 33 years of my life and all my hard work collapsed to the ground.
"We managed to get out and get ourselves up to the high part of Chamanga. As the minutes went by, more people arrived. Now there are 95 families in this place.
"For us to be able to stay here, we need tents in order to give people a little more stability and because when it rains, it spoils what little we have.”
Jeanina Gracia, 25
“It was very dark and we all just searched for our children, our brothers and sisters, our parents.
“We went up the hill, to a higher area, because we were afraid of a tsunami on lower ground.
"When we arrived, we managed to find two mattresses, but most people didn’t bring anything. Their houses fell and everything was crushed underneath; it was horrible.
“When the second aftershock occurred on the night of April 16, we thought we were going to die, but the most important thing is that we’re alive. Material things we can obtain if we work."