The latest in a spate of major earthquakes worldwide struck the South American country of Ecuador last night at midnight UK time, near the northern town of Muisne. A 7.8 magnitude quake at a shallow 12 miles, it has left at least 77 people dead

Cornish disaster relief agency ShelterBox has aid in the region, and is on standby to respond if the Ecuador Government puts out a call for international assistance.

ShelterBox says it is closely monitoring the unfolding situation in Ecuador, and in southern Japan where two quakes and numerous aftershocks followed other seismic events in Afghanistan, Myanmar and Vanuatu over the past week. It has teams in Fiji responding to two cyclones, and they are aware of the threat of tsunamis at any point around the Pacific.