Up to 300 people were feared dead and morethan 15,000 were left homeless by Ecuador's earthquake whose
economic cost is at least 950 mln dlrs in damages, authorities
said.
    "The magnitude of the damages caused by the earthquake is
gigantic," President Leon Febres Cordero said after inspecting
the damages in Napo, the hardest-hit jungle province.
    Shaking loose earth from hills, the thursday night quake
triggered landslides, swelling the Aguarico river which burst
it banks carrying away homes and huts in Napo province, health
minister Jorge Brancho told reuters.
    "We fear that up to 300 people died in napo though there is
no way of now knowing the exact figure because there are many
disappeared."
 Reuter
