U.S. military personnel in Ecuador are safe following two earthquakes that shook the country on Wednesday, according to U.S. Southern Command.

"According to the Defense Attache Office at the U.S. Embassy, Quito, all U.S. military personnel working in Ecuador are accounted for and unharmed," Army Col. Lisa Garcia said in an email.

The first quake registered a magnitude of 6.7, followed by a stronger magnitude 6.8 quake, with epicenters north of Rosa Zarate, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

After an April 16 earthquake that killed hundreds of people in Ecuador, the Air Force sent a dozen airmen to the country to assess the damage at Eloy Alfaro International Airport at Manta. They also brought a mobile air traffic control tower so that more humanitarian assistance supplies could land.

The 78th Logistics Readiness Squadron loads a generator onto a C-17 Globe Master II on April 26, 2016, in preparations to give humanitarian aid in Ecuador at Robins Air Force Base, Ga.

Photo Credit: Airman 1st Class Justin Parsons,/Air Force

Currently, f Four airmen are still in Ecuador supporting air traffic control operations at Eloy Alfaro, said Master Sgt. Kristina Newton, a spokeswoman for 12th Air Force. They are with the 53rd Air Traffic Control Squadron at Robins Air Force Base in Georgia.

"We expect the team to return over the coming days," Newton said in an email Wednesday to Military Times.

At one time, about 450 airmen and contractors were deployed to Eloy Alfaro to support anti-narcotics operations, but the Ecuadorian government told the Air Force to leave the airport in 2008. The last airmen departed in September 2009.

Share:
In Other News
Load More