CANOA, Ecuador — Ecuadoreans slept outside and struggled to find food and water Friday in the wake of aftershocks that are still rocking coastal towns flattened by last weekend’s powerful earthquake.

The death count rose to at least 602 on Friday, surpassing the dead from Peru’s 2007 earthquake and making this the deadliest quake in South America since a 1999 tremor in Colombia killed more than 1,000 people. Ecuadorean officials listed 130 people as missing and the number of people left homeless climbed to over 25,000.

Residents talk on the balcony of an earthquake-damaged home in Pedernales, Ecuador, where the death count from last Saturday's quake rose to at least 602 on Friday. The Associated Press

The earthquake destroyed virtually all of the simple one- and two-story buildings making up the beach town of Canoa last Saturday. Residents sleeping in makeshift shelters said they were praying that it didn’t rain.

A magnitude-6.0 aftershock struck off the coast late Thursday, followed by more shaking that sent people running from the structures left half-standing after the initial quake. Local television stations showed people crying in fear, and President Rafael Correa reminded residents that aftershocks were to be expected and urged them to stay calm and strong.

In Canoa, 98 percent of buildings were destroyed during the original magnitude-7.8 quake, army Col. Jose Nunez said.

The palm tree-lined beach towns along Ecuador’s coast are usually bustling with tourists who come from all over the world to take in the tropical beauty. But this week, they are filled with grim-faced residents waiting for water and food, sometimes going away empty-handed after hours in the sun. Like aid workers and rescuers, residents wear masks against the dust and the stench in the air.

Mercedes Murillo folded clothes Thursday in a makeshift shelter on a Canoa soccer field where she is living with 50 other families.

“It’s so hard, especially with the children, with all this dust, and sleeping outside. We’re thanking God that it’s not raining,” she said as she struggled to hold back tears.

Local media reported that some tourists staying near Canoa had come to the village to help.

Rescuers continued to search through rubble on streets that looked as if they had been bombed, but time was running out for finding survivors.

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