A shallow 6.3-magnitude earthquake left at least one person injured, several buildings damaged and knocked out power in the Ecuadoran port city of Esmeraldas on Friday.

According to Ecuador's emergency response services, one person suffered head wounds in the shake, which was felt as far away as the capital Quito.

"It was very strong," former presidential candidate Yaku Perez told AFP from the scene.

"It felt like an eternity, but I guess it was less than a minute". 

The authorities said three homes and a health center had been damaged, while the facade of a military building partially collapsed.

An AFP reporter in Esmeraldas witnessed tumbled-down walls, facades that had collapsed onto a road in a pile of debris and several cracked buildings.

Families stood around surveying the damage.

President Daniel Noboa said he was rushing ministers to the scene to help coordinate the building of shelters and the delivery of humanitarian aid.

"The government is with you, and that's how it will be going forward," he said on social media.

The US Geological Survey and local monitors said the quake struck at a depth of about 35 kilometers (22 miles) just before 7:00 am local time (1200 GMT). 

Ecuadoran authorities said there was no tsunami risk from the quake.

Ecuador sits on one of the most geologically active zones on Earth, and the fault between the Nazca and South American plates runs along its coast.