Rescue in Ecuador is still underway, but the chances of finding more survivors are slim. The lives lost are a painful wound, and rebuilding destroyed areas will be a tough and long journey ahead.

The death toll soars as rescuers use tractors and bare hands to dig desperately for survivors. Quake victims beg Vice President Jorge Glass to help find missing relatives.

A woman cries in pain; other inhabitants say their children are trapped.

The country's president says everything can be rebuilt, but lives cannot be recovered -- and that's what hurts the most. And as the rescue work enters the fifth day, hopes are fading.

The survivors are still in shock.

"This is chaos. We can't sleep inside our home because we're afraid something will happen to us, to the kids. We are afraid," said Liliana Espinales, Manta resident.

The coastal tourist areas are among the worst affected.

The quake has piled on pain on the country's economy, which has been already reeling from low oil prices.

Authorities say the reconstruction will take years, and cost billions of dollars.

"We are worried. It's the problem of the whole of society, of all people, of a whole district that is jobless, energy-less. All the hotel chains are totally destroyed, the shrimp sector that generates foreign currency here in Pedernales is also vastly destroyed. So we have to start to reactivate, and we don't know how long things will be like this," said Gabriel Alcivar, Pedernales mayor.

The International Monetary Fund predicted that the country will see a 4.5 percent drop in GDP in 2016, and a further 4.3 percent fall next year.