PICTURED: The moment Ecuador earthquake survivor is rescued from the rubble two weeks after disaster

A LUCKY-to-be-alive pensioner has been pulled from the rubble of a building devastated by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake which rocked Ecuador TWO WEEKS ago.

The man was rescued after being found almost a fortnight after the powerful quake struck and killed nearly 650 people in the country.

He was located after a visiting search team from Venezuela heard him “making sounds in a partially collapsed house” in the coastal province of Manabi.

Man trapped in ceiling rescued two days after Ecuador earthquake

A visiting Venezuelan task force rescued the man after 13 days under the rubble Embassy of Venezuela In Ecuador

The man, named as Manuel Vasquez, was suffering from kidney failure and dehydration and had lost three of his toes.

The 72-year-old was taken to hospital in the town of Jaramijo where he is recovering.

Vasquez was discovered on Friday while the Venezuelans were doing routine building inspections.

Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas called the seismic event "the strongest quake we have faced in decades."

The nation's armed forces and police were mobilised to keep public order after the tremors.

And the Red Cross said more than 1,200 volunteers had taken part in rescue efforts, evacuation and first aid operations.

Rescue dogs have been used to try and find survivors Cuerpo De Bomberos Ibarra/ Facebook

Ecuador's Risk Management agency said 10,000 armed forces personnel were also deployed to help people in the coastal areas.

With close to 7,000 buildings destroyed, more than 25,000 people were living in shelters while 14,000 security personnel were keeping order.

Survivors in the quake zone were receiving food, water and medicine from the government and scores of foreign aid workers.

But bad roads delayed aid reaching some more cut off communities.

The earthquake that struck on April 16 left 660 people dead according to the latest government figures, with 32 still missing and more than 4,600 injured.

The 7.8-magnitude quake has caused homes to collapse and a major overpass to crumble Reuters 

 

More than 22,000 people remain in emergency shelters two weeks after the 7.8 magnitude quake, officials said.

A total of 29 foreigners are among the dead, including 10 Colombians, two Britons, an Irishman, an Italian, a Frenchman and a German.

President Rafael Correa said he would raise VAT by two percent for a year and charge wealthy Ecuadorans a levy in order to pay for the estimated £2 BILLION in damage.