A sense of dread took hold in Ecuador on Wednesday, with the streets empty, classes canceled, and many people afraid to leave their homes after the disappearance of two gang leaders on Monday set off prison riots, police kidnappings and the on-air storming of a TV station.

The violence, which prompted the president to authorize Ecuador’s military to take on the country’s powerful gangs, has left the South American country on edge.

“I feel like the world I knew before is gone,” said María Ortega, a schoolteacher in Guayaquil, a large coastal city. “You can know how things start, but not how they’ll end.”

In Guayaquil, where TC Televisión was briefly seized on Tuesday and the authorities said at least eight people died amid a spate of violence, public transit had resumed and some people ventured outside. TC Televisión was not broadcasting, with only colored lines appearing on the screen where news reports would usually appear.

Life was far from normal.

In Quito, the capital, military officers patrolled near the presidential palace. Subway stations usually crowded with commuters were mostly deserted. President Daniel Noboa declared a state of emergency on Monday, imposing an overnight curfew and allowing the military to take over prisons and patrol the streets.

The police reported that 70 people had been arrested and accused of committing attacks and terrorist acts.