1st Ld: Death toll of Ecuador earthquake rises to 646

The death toll of the deadly 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck the northern Pacific coast of Ecuador on April 16 has risen to 646, said President Rafael Correa Saturday.

In a televised speech, the president said that 12,499 were wounded, 130 missing and 26,091 living in shelters with close to 7,000 buildings destroyed. Some 14,000 security personnel were keeping order in quake-hit areas.

The head of state said that a week after the disaster, the worst facing the nation in the last 70 years, "pain is immense" and called his people to hold high hope to "overcome the sad and difficult time".

"The families of those fatalities and serious injuries count on our support and solidarity every moment. We will be there doing what is possible and even impossible to accompany them in overcoming the difficulties," said Correa.

Several strong tremors and more than 700 aftershocks have been reported in the country since the major quake, sparking momentary panic but little additional damage. Aftershocks are expected to continue for several weeks.

Survivors in the quake zone were receiving food, water and medicine from the government and scores of foreign aid workers, though Correa has acknowledged that bad roads delayed aid from reaching some communities.

To address the emergency, the government has increased two percentage points to Value Added Tax (VAT) to 14 percent for one year. In addition, Ecuador was announced the possibility of selling some assets of the nation, whose dollarized economy is seriously affected by the appreciation of the dollar and falling oil prices. Enditem