A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck the Ecuadorian capital of Quito and surrounding areas on Tuesday, killing at least two people and injuring another eight, according to a report from BBC.

The quake's casualties include a construction worker building a bridge in Catequilla and a 4-year-old child who was buried under bags of rice. Some news outlets are reporting that another man was killed in Catequilla.

"Obviously the landslide was caused by the tremor, but there was already weakness there due to illegal mining ... or quarries being exploited improperly," Ecuador President Rafael Correa told reporters.

Quito's main airport temporarily held flights and the Pan American Highway was covered in dust as a result of the earthquake, which struck at 2:58 p.m. local time and lasted for about 20 seconds.

There were no reports of widespread damage as a result of the quake. Most structures in seismically active areas in South America are built to withstand even strong earthquakes.

Four people are still missing in the landslide, according to some news reports. The earthquake caused other landslides in the area, without casualty.

"I was talking on my phone with my daughter and suddenly the line went dead," said Laura Flores, who lives in the Carcelen district of Quito. "I thought the house was falling down."

The U.S. Geological Survey released a report saying the epicenter of the earthquake was 14 miles northeast of Quito and and was quite shallow at only 4.8 miles.

"We could really feel it," Terry Salazar, who works in northern Quito, told Reuters. "The first thing I did was leave (the building) with my colleagues."

Ecuador sits along the geologically famous Ring of Fire, a U-shaped, seismically active area in the Pacific Ocean where many earthquakes occur.