(CNN) In a day marked by the gloom of a growing death toll, at least one story of hope emerged Monday as search teams combed rubble for survivors days after a powerful earthquake shook Ecuador's Pacific coast.
Rescuers pulled a person from the ruins of a hotel in the city of Portoviejo on Monday afternoon, security officials said.
The man, who was about 35 years old, had called his mother with his cell phone to tell her he was still alive under the rubble, CNN affiliate Teleamazonas reported.
Firefighters who traveled to Ecuador from Bogota, Colombia, helped rescue him, Teleamazonas said.
But families fear that time is running out to find missing loved ones.
The 7.8-magnitude quake, which struck Saturday night, has killed at least 413 people, officials said Monday. More than 2,500 more were injured.
The hardest-hit area of the South American nation was the coastal Manabi Province, where about 200 people died, said Ricardo Peñaherrera of Ecuador's national emergency management office.
The cities of Manta, Portoviejo and Pedernales, a tourist destination, saw the most devastation, but damage was widespread throughout the country.
Images posted by authorities on social media showed huge piles of rubble, collapsed roads and rescuers rushing to help.
"It was something very ugly. We thought it was the end of the world," one survivor in Pedernales told CNN's Gustavo Valdes on Monday. "It started hard, way too hard. We fell. We couldn't get up. It was too strong. ... If it had fallen the other way, we would have died."
Victims of the quake are grateful they survived, he said, but uncertain of what to do next.
"We are waiting to see what we can do, waiting for what the President tells us," he said. "There is no work."
Ecuador deployed 10,000 soldiers and 4,600 police officers to the affected areas. Troops set up mobile hospitals and temporary shelters. The military also brought in search dogs to help find survivors and bodies.
Still, getting supplies and rescue crews to the affected areas has been a challenge.
"The lack of water and communication remains a big problem," Peñaherrera told CNN en Español. "Many highways are in bad shape, especially in the mountainous area, because it has been raining recently due to (the) El Niño weather phenomenon."
See CNN en Español's coverage
People trapped by the quake aren't the only thing searchers are trying to find.
Police said locating pets was also a priority, posting a photo on Twitter showing an officer pulling a dog out from a collapsed concrete building.
International aid pours in
International aid poured into Ecuador Monday.
Mexico, Spain, Colombia, Chile, Venezuela, Peru and other countries sent rescuers and aid. The European Union said Monday it had released €1 million in humanitarian aid to help victims of the Saturday evening quake, which injured thousands and left an unknown number homeless.
The United Nations said it was preparing a "major aid airlift," and private aid organizations also rallied.
President Rafael Correa arrived in the city of Portoviejo on Sunday night after cutting short his visit to a Vatican conference. He toured the area again Monday.
"I have infinite gratitude to the spirit of the Ecuadorian people, of our firefighters, our soldiers, our policemen and all workers who haven't slept, haven't eaten as they work hard to save lives," he said after arriving.
The President's official Twitter account used a hashtag that translated to "Ecuador ready and in solidarity" and showed him at one of the disaster sites.
READ: Ecuador and Japan earthquakes: Are they related?
States of emergency declared
The earthquake hit Saturday around 7 p.m. in this country of 15 million people, buckling overpasses and trapping drivers. A shopping mall partially collapsed on customers and several buildings were flattened, their contents spilling out into the streets.
Powerful quake hits Ecuador
Soldiers move an injured person onto a military airplane at an air base in Manta on Tuesday, April 19. A magnitude-7.8 quake struck off Ecuador's central coast on Saturday, April 16, flattening buildings and buckling highways. It's the deadliest quake to strike the South American country in decades.
A relative kisses a photo of Kexly Valentino attached to her coffin in Montecristi on April 19. Kexly and her mother and brother died in the quake.
Rescuers search for survivors in Manta on April 19.
Maria Victoria, 89, is comforted by her daughter Mariana in Estancia Las Palmas on April 19. The elderly woman was injured when a column fell on her.
A Manta family wakes up April 19 after sleeping outside their home destroyed in the quake.
Firefighters remove a body from a destroyed building in Portoviejo on Monday, April 18.
A truck moves the belongings of a family from Pedernales to Jama over a road destroyed in the quake on April 18.
Pallbearers carry a coffin to a cemetery as relatives mourn the loss of loved ones in Portoviejo on April 18.
A man, his home destroyed by the earthquake, sleeps in a boat docked along the shore in La Chorrera on April 18.
Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa kisses a group of children after meeting with local authorities at the emergency center in Portoviejo on Sunday, April 17.
Rescue workers search the rubble of a collapsed building for victims in Guayaquil, Ecuador, on April 17.
Volunteers remove a body from a destroyed house in Pedernales, Ecuador, on April 17.
Vehicles from a car dealership hang on a precipice caused by an earthquake induced landslide in Portoviejo, Ecuador, on April 17.
People walk among the debris of a collapsed building in Pedernales, Ecuador, on April 17.
A woman cries as she stands next to a destroyed house in Pedernales, Ecuador, April 17.
People make their way through debris from a collapsed building in Pedernales, Ecuador, on April 17.
A building has collapsed in Portoviejo on April 17.
People search through the rubble of destroyed homes in Pedernales on April 17.
A destroyed vehicle lies under debris in Portoviejo on April 17.
A man takes in the damage in Portoviejo on April 17.
A rescue worker searches a destroyed house in Pedernales on April 17.
Residents remain on the streets for fear of aftershocks in Pedernales on April 17.
Rescue workers try to pull out survivors trapped in a collapsed building in Manta on April 17.
Police check out a car crushed under a collapsed overpass in Guayaquil.
Rescue workers stand near a destroyed car in Guayaquil.
Residents walk on a street amid destroyed buildings in Guayaquil on April 16.
An hotel leans after the earthquake in Manta on April 16.
Damage is seen inside a store in Guayaquil on April 16.
Six of the country's provinces are under states of emergency.
Ecuador's Interior Ministry ordered all nightlife venues in affected areas closed temporarily, and the nation's soccer federation suspended the Ecuadorian championship tournament.
The earthquake was the deadliest to hit the nation since March 1987, when a 7.2-magnitude earthquake killed 1,000 people, according to the USGS.
Impact Your World: How you can help in Ecuador
From tile-shaking to tsunamis, how strong can a quake get?
Introduction
Earthquakes today are more commonly measured by moment magnitude, a scale based on the amount of seismic energy released by the quake. In the magnitude scale, each increase of one whole number translates to 32 times more energy.
Sources: CNN, US geological survey, California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
Micro
Magnitude: Less than 3.0
Average number by year: The U.S. Geological Survey estimates there are 1.3 million quakes per year that register a 2.0 to 2.9. Caltech says there are about 1,000 of those quakes per day and about 8,000 quakes per day that fall in the 1.0 to 1.9 range.
Damage: little to none
Additional note: A quake measuring 2.5 to 3.0 is generally the smallest earthquake felt by people.
Minor
Magnitude: 3.0-3.9
Average number per year: The U.S. Geological Survey estimates there are about 130,000 minor earthquakes each year. Caltech estimates there are 49,000.
Damage: Little to none
Light
Magnitude: 4.0-4.9
Average number per year: The U.S. Geological survey estimates there are 13,000 light earthquakes per year. Caltech puts the number at 6,200.
Damage: Moderate
Moderate
Magnitude: 5.0-5.9
Average number per year: 800, according to Caltech, or 1,319, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Damage: Considerable
StrongMagnitude: 6.0-6.9
Average number per year: 120-134
Damage: Severe
Notable quakes: About 5,500 people were killed in January 1995 by a magnitude 6.9 quake in Kobe, Japan.
The
Loma Prieta earthquake (magnitude 6.9) killed 63 people in October 1989 and caused an estimated $6 billion in damage in California's San Francisco Bay area. It is remembered for occurring just before a World Series game.
MajorMagnitude: 7.0-7.9
Average number per year: 17-18
Damage: Widespread, heavy
Notable quakes: A magnitude 7.3 quake killed 110,000 people in Asghabat, USSR, in October 1948.
About 70,000-100,000 people were killed in December 1908 by a magnitude 7.2 quake in Messina, Italy.
In October 2005, a magnitude 7.6 quake killed 86,000 people in Pakistan.
The
deadliest quake in American history registered 7.8 in 1906 and killed an estimated 3,000 people in San Francisco, California.
On April 25, 2015, an earthquake in Nepal
registered 7.8,
killing close to 9,000 people and causing $10 billion in damages.
GreatMagnitude: 8.0 and up
Average number per year: 1
Damage: Tremendous
Additional note: There is no upper limit to the magnitude scale, but the highest measurement ever recorded was a 9.5 (Chile, May 1960).
Notable quakes: A magnitude 8.0 quake killed 255,000 people on July 27, 1976, in Tangshan, China. It's the deadliest earthquake since 1900, when quakes were first measured.
Tsunamis resulting from a magnitude 9.0 quake
killed more than 200,000 people in December 2004. The quake struck the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, and affected countries from Indonesia to African countries bordering the Indian Ocean.
On March 11, 2011 a 9.0-magnitude earthquake struck off Japan's coast --
the most powerful to ever hit the country. It triggered a series of tsunamis and led to 16,000 deaths and the meltdown of the
Fukushima nuclear reactor.
On Sunday, Pope Francis asked for prayers for those affected by the earthquakes in Ecuador and Japan.
"Last night a violent earthquake hit Ecuador, causing numerous victims and great damages," Francis said. "Let's pray for those populations, and for those of Japan, where as well there has been some earthquakes in the last days."
Japan was hit with a series of earthquakes last week that killed dozens.
CNN's Gustavo Valdes, Boris Sanchez, Ralph Ellis, Faith Karimi, Azadeh Ansari, Natalie Gallon, Rafael Romo, Steve Almasy, Tina Burnside, Dakota Flournoy, Nelson Quinones and Madison Park contributed to this report.