Esmeraldas Province Ecuador: Considerable damage in Atacames, Tonsupa after quake

ELTELEGRAFO.COM.EC / Wilmer Torres reported, Esmeraldas Regularly, at 18:00 starts the rumba in Tonsupa and Atacames (Esmeraldas). It’s already 20:15 and the activity does not seem to start. Hoteliers, merchants and owners of fun places know that Christmas and the end of the year will not come, because after the earthquakes of last Monday night, the anxiety, the shock and resignation invaded each of the tourist stops and places . Visitors no longer travel the boardwalks, but together with their families they go to the two safest areas of Tonsupa before a possible tsunami: Taseche and Grito del Serrano. In the streets there is noise, but not party, but pain. There, those affected find the best place to rest and take care of their belongings, as they fear being victims of assaults and robberies. In the cabins of Atacames, in the distance, the song of the Niche Group, ‘Cali Pachanguero’, sounds. For Christian Rendón, administrator of a covacha, that song puts to dance even the most boring. This time no one danced her. On the subject, he turned off the mobile disk and decided to close it. In this scenario that is not stressful, noisy and commercial like any day of the week, the decorations of each covacha stand out and the refreshing sea breeze is felt. Rendón, who manages the Fall of the Sun bar, remembers that the previous Monday, at 20:30, had at least 60 clients. He believes that Christmas and New Year plans are over, as they prepare to receive the holidays with promotions and “good rumba.” Hotels are empty as are restaurants, businesses that have reduced their economic incomes by up to 75%. Gabriel Loor, 24, driver of a motorcycle, looks with resignation at the little movement in Atacames. Its revenues were based on the routes it served to and from Tonsupa. “$ 0.50 cost the taxi service per person,” he says. Before venturing into the heart of Atacames, Iván Giler, 48, took out a pair of mats and pillows from one of the 21 rooms in his hotel called Seaquarium, because on the top floor there is a swimming pool. During the earthquake, the hotel had no clients. He acknowledges that the business has dropped considerably since April 16. After the last strong telltale move, he says, he prepared several promotions to promote the hotel, as discounts, mainly. He lives there with his wife, his cousin and his brother. When the 5-storey building began to move, he first thought the building would be low, as he heard a loud sound, the result of the fall of a television set. The property was damaged in walls and masonry. “We take turns with my brother and my cousin to make sure no one enters the hotel, which is completely empty and apparently abandoned.” Hotel Márquez, considered the best of Atacames, is also affected. Some employees consider that business to be a symbol in Esmeraldas. “There is damage to the facade, we have to work hard,” said one of the employees. Police watch the streets with the help of motorcycles and patrols. One gesticulates: “Body, we avoid looting there early Monday.” Read Article