You might recognize Ecuador after their big tourist campaign of All You Need is Ecuador. Ecuador is known to be a very diverse country, famous for its beaches, jungles, archipelagos, fine Spanish architecture, food, people, etc. It is located in East South America, in between Colombia and Peru.

On April 16, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Ecuador's coast leaving many towns completely destroyed. The epicenter of where this earthquake started was near Portoviejo, Ecuador. This earthquake was said to be felt everywhere around the country even in the capital, Quito, which is around 100 miles away from the epicenter. The earthquake destroyed houses, schools, hospitals, shopping malls and small stores.

As a result from this devastating natural disaster, over 400 people have died, more than 2,000 people are injured and more than 300 people have gone missing as of April 18. A big percentage of the population who reside on the coast have lost their ability to obtain basic necessities including: food, water, medicines and shelter. Many of these people struggle maintaining for their family already, so you can see how critical it is for people to help out Ecuador.

The government is going through a recession right now which means that they cannot fully pay for all the catastrophic damage that this earthquake has caused the country.

Fortunately, Ecuador has got many active citizens who want to help. Many have created pages online where one can donate money to help out this cause. Social media has been so helpful as it is right now with every one trying to raise awareness of this situation. Schools in the capital have become donation places where any one can drop off water, food, medicines, etc. for the people in need. More than 15 relief funds have been created as well.

Please consider helping towards this cause any way you can. Whether it is raising awareness by letting people know what happened or donating some money. Any amount of money will help out.

You can donate money on the following pages:

To donate money towards Canoa, a beach city that has been completely destroyed : https://www.youcaring.com/those-affected-in-the-co...

The following Go Fund Me's would appreciate it as well:

https://www.gofundme.com/98zjc4yk

https://www.gofundme.com/6czsam3z

You can read more about the earthquake here: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/19/world/americas/e...

And more about the recession here: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-30/...