A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck off the coast of Ecuador on Wednesday, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said, just days after a major quake hit the country.
The quake was centred 70 km (44 miles) west-southwest of Esmeraldas at a shallow depth of 10 km.
Meanwhile, rescuers in Ecuador were losing hope of finding more survivors from an earthquake that killed nearly 500 people and dealt a shattering blow to the South American OPEC country's already fragile economy.
Praying for miracles, distraught family members beseeched rescue teams to find missing loved ones as they used dogs, bare hands and excavators to hunt through debris of flattened homes, hotels and stores in the hardest-hit Pacific coastal region.
The 7.8 magnitude quake, which struck late on Saturday, also left 107 people missing, and injured more than 4,000, according to the latest government tallies.
Supervising rescue work in the disaster zone, Ecuador's leftist president, Rafael Correa, said the quake inflicted $2 billion to $3 billion of damage to the oil-dependent economy and could knock 2 to 3 percentage points off growth.
"Let's not kid ourselves, it will be a long struggle. ... Reconstruction for years, billions (of dollars) in investment," said Correa, who appeared deeply moved.
"In the short term, we're going to need tens of millions of dollars," Correa added from the quake-hit town of Tarqui, donning a mask, gloves and helmet.
Growth in Ecuador's small economy had already been forecast at near zero this year because of plunging oil revenues.
The quake, Ecuador's worst in decades, destroyed or damaged about 1,500 buildings, triggered mudslides and left some 20,500 people sleeping in shelters, according to the government.
