BU Study Abroad Program Students Unharmed by Ecuador Earthquake

Quito program is 100 miles from epicenter

View of a fallen building after a 7.8-magnitude quake in Portoviejo, Ecuador on April 17, 2016

A building felled by a 7.8-magnitude quake in Portoviejo, Ecuador, on April 17, 2016. Photo by Juan Cevallos/AFP/Getty Images

April 17, 2016
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All University students and staff in BU Study Abroad programs in Ecuador are safe and unharmed by the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that shook the coast of that country Saturday evening. Joseph Finkhouse, associate director of health, safety, and security for Global Programs, reports that all 7 students in the Latin American Studies Program in Quito are safe, as are the 12 students in the Tropical Ecology Program. Quito is 105 miles from the epicenter of the earthquake, which killed over 200 people, according to the New York Times. The students in the Tropical Ecology Program are currently in Tiputini, in the Amazon basin, where the quake was not felt. Finkhouse says the directors of those programs notified him at 10:30 p.m. Saturday and reported that all students had been accounted for and all were unharmed.

The New York Times reports that the quake was centered 16 miles southeast of Muisne, Ecuador.

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BU Study Abroad Program Students Unharmed by Ecuador Earthquake

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  • Art Jahnke

    Senior Contributing Editor

    Art Janke

    Art Jahnke began his career at the Real Paper, a Boston area alternative weekly. He has worked as a writer and editor at Boston Magazine, web editorial director at CXO Media, and executive editor in Marketing & Communications at Boston University, where his work was honored with many awards. Profile

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There are 7 comments on BU Study Abroad Program Students Unharmed by Ecuador Earthquake

  1. The news and information are certainly welcome, but not particularly timely. As the parent of a student currently in Ecuador, I think an emergency contact number should have been posted immediately after the quake last night. As it is, I had to reach out to various parties on my own – I was fortunate to find the correct contact info. In this context, MAJOR props to Dr. Kelly Swing for responding quickly and comprehensively from Tiputini, and thanks as well to Maria Antonieta Zalles in Quito.

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  2. Dear Mr. Ascher, Thank you for your thoughtful comment. We certainly acknowledge and share your concerns for your son’s safety and the need to communicate quickly to all concerned parties. We take very seriously the safety of all BU students abroad, just as on campus in Boston. We applaud and are grateful to Kelly Swing and Maria Antonieta Zalles for their quick work last night. Kelly and Maria Antonieta are BU Global Programs – Study Abroad staff members. In their roles as our site directors, they are BU’s representatives in Ecuador. As such we rely on their leadership in situations like this as first responders. Our communication this morning to parents of all students in Ecuador was done after we in Boston were able to verify the safety of all of our students there, and as quickly as possible. As we work always to improve our response to emergency situations, and keeping the well-being of our students as our first concern, we appreciate your comments.

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  5. I was visiting my father in Cuenca when the lights in his apartment started swinging and we took shelter in the door jams. Although we were 350 miles from the coast we definitely felt the quake. The next day students started collecting donations in the Parque Calderon, the central square in Cuenca. It was heartening to see such an immediate response to the devastation on the norther coast. I am thinking of all those affected by this terrible disaster.

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  6. My Prayers go out to all. I am so Proud how the BU student handled themselves immediately. God surely graced them. WOW! I am actually behind the computer speechless. Its too devastating for words, and I’m happy you are all safe.

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