One person died in Ecuador and ports in Peru were closed as massive waves of up to 13 feet hit the region, officials said Saturday.

Many beaches in the central and northern parts of Peru's coast have been closed to prevent a threat to life, local authorities said.

There, waves submerged docks and public squares, forcing residents to flee to higher ground, according to local media images.

In neighboring Ecuador, the National Secretariat for Risk Management said a body had been found in the coastal town of Manta.

“The Manta fire department reported that at 06:00 in the morning a body of a missing person was found in the area of ​​Barbaskillo,” the agency reported on social networks.

Peru has closed 91 of its 121 ports by January 1, the National Emergency Operations Center said on social media.

The municipality of Callao, close to the capital Lima and the location of the country's main port, closed several beaches and banned tourists and fishing boats from leaving.

“These waves originate thousands of kilometers away from Peru, off the coast of the United States,” Navy Capt. Enrique Varia told Channel N television.

“They are waves created by persistent wind on the surface of the ocean approaching our shores,” he said.

Dozens of small fishing boats and businesses near the sea were damaged, according to images broadcast on television and social media.