Recovery efforts underway after devastating Ecuador earthquake

Recovery efforts begin after Ecuador earthquake

ECUADOR-- A massive rescue and recovery operation is under way in Ecuador after Saturday's devastating 7.8-magnitude earthquake.

The search for survivors continues, even as the first funerals were held. The death toll has now topped 350.

Debris is piled high in much of the country.

Physicist Michio Kaku on the earthquakes in Ecuador and Japan

When CBS News arrived to city of Portoviejo people were running toward a truck, and it was unclear what was going on. It turned out to be a food truck.

Some people, waiting in line for food in the sweltering heat, hadn't had a meal in 48 hours. The sack of food people received from the truck wasn't just for them, it was going to be shared with entire families.

CBS News met a woman who hadn't eaten since Saturday.

She said the food she received is to feed her mother, father and two kids.

Ghani Mehiel and his family are sleeping in the street after a pile of bricks fell on his bed during the quake.

"We have not slept," he said. "We are afraid of aftershocks."

Reconstruction is expected to take years and cost billions of dollars. But right now, all anyone cares about is trying to find survivors.

A search and rescue team from Colombia sifted through the debris of what was once a house. They moved the debris to try and find possible survivors.

There is a smell of death in the area and that's why search and rescuers focused on that spot.

A block away, a rescuer ran up to CBS News to say a man had just called out for help. He was trapped under the ruble of a hotel. The scene at the hotel was chaotic.

CBS News then spotted a woman in distress.

The heat and suspense was too much for her. It was her husband, Pablo, who was trapped. He had called her on his cellphone from underneath the rubble.

Two hours after rescuers started looking for Pablo, they found him. He was pulled from the rubble alive, and taken to a local hospital.

In downtown Portoviejo, a crowd sitting on grass will sleep there. There is nothing to go home to.

The president of Ecuador has declared a state of emergency. He said he expects the death toll to rise considerably.

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