7.6 Magnitude Earthquake Shook Costa Rica and a Wide Area of Central America

Powerful Earthquake Reported in Costa Rica

By DANICA COTO

NOSARA, Costa Rica September 5, 2012 (AP)

A powerful, magnitude-7.6 earthquake shook Costa Rica and a wide swath of Central America on Wednesday. There were no immediate accounts of injuries, but communications were down near the epicenter.

The USGS said the 8:42 a.m. quake struck about 38 miles (60 kilometers) from the town of Liberia. It was centered about 25 miles (41 kilometers) below the surface. The magnitude initially was estimated at 7.9.

In the town of Hojancha near the epicenter, city official Kenia Campos said the quake knocked down some houses and landslides blocked two roads.

"So far, we don't have victims," she said. "People were really scared ... We have had moderate quakes but an earthquake (this strong) hadn't happened in more than 50 years."

There were no initial reports of damage or deaths in the capital of San Jose, said Douglas Salgado, a geographer with Costa Rica's National Commission of Risk Prevention and Emergency Attention.

Salgado said, however, officials were having problem accessing the earthquake zone or reaching people there and were flying over the area to assess damage to highways and other structures.

The earthquake didn't knock out phones or electricity in the capital 88 miles (141 kilometers) from the epicenter, Salgado said by telephone, but communications were down near the epicenter.

"There's chaos in San Jose because it was a strong earthquake of long duration," Salgado said. "It was pretty strong and caused collective chaos."

At the Hotel Punta Islita in the Guanacaste area, "everybody is crying a lot and the telephone lines are saturated," said worker Diana Salas, speaking by telephone, but she said was no damage there

In the coastal town of Nosara in northwest Costa Rica, trees shook violently and light posts swayed. Teachers chased primary school students outside.

A tsunami warning was in effect for Costa Rica, Panama and Nicaragua, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said in a bulletin. It said it was unknown if a tsunami was generated, but the warning was based on the size of the earthquake.
source: http://abcnews.go.com

M7.6 - 10km NE of Hojancha, Costa Rica2012-09-05 14:42:10 UTC

Summary

Location and Magnitude contributed by: USGS, NEIC, Golden, Colorado (and predecessors)

General

50 km

20 mi

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Costa Rica
10.120°N, 85.347°W
Depth: 40.8km (25.4mi)

Event Time

1. 2012-09-05 14:42:10 UTC
2. 2012-09-05 08:42:10 UTC-06:00 at epicenter
3. 2012-09-05 08:42:10 UTC-06:00 system time

Nearby Cities

1. 10km (6mi) NE of Hojancha, Costa Rica
2. 11km (7mi) ESE of Nicoya, Costa Rica
3. 30km (19mi) ESE of Santa Cruz, Costa Rica
4. 44km (27mi) SW of Canas, Costa Rica
5. 140km (87mi) W of San Jose, Costa Rica
6. 
   

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All Regions	Pacific Ocean	Hawaiʻi	Indian Ocean	Caribbean Sea
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Powerful earthquake reported in Costa Rica

DANICA COTO,

Updated 9:08 a.m., Wednesday, September 5, 2012

NOSARA, Costa Rica (AP) — A powerful, magnitude-7.6 earthquake shook Costa Rica and a wide swath of Central America on Wednesday, collapsing some houses, blocking highways and causing panic, but there were no immediate reports of deaths.

The USGS said the 8:42 a.m. quake struck about 38 miles (60 kilometers) from the town of Liberia. It was centered about 25 miles (41 kilometers) below the surface. The magnitude initially was estimated at 7.9.

In the town of Hojancha near the epicenter, city official Kenia Campos said the quake knocked down some houses and landslides blocked two roads.

"So far, we don't have victims," she said. "People were really scared ... We have had moderate quakes but an earthquake (this strong) hadn't happened in more than 50 years."

There were no initial reports of damage or deaths in the capital of San Jose, said Douglas Salgado, a geographer with Costa Rica's National Commission of Risk Prevention and Emergency Attention.

Salgado said, however, officials were having problem accessing the earthquake zone or reaching people there and were flying over the area to assess damage to highways and other structures.

The earthquake didn't knock out phones or electricity in the capital 88 miles (141 kilometers) from the epicenter, Salgado said by telephone, but communications were down near the epicenter.

"There's chaos in San Jose because it was a strong earthquake of long duration," Salgado said. "It was pretty strong and caused collective chaos."

At the Hotel Punta Islita in the Guanacaste area, "everybody is crying a lot and the telephone lines are saturated," said worker Diana Salas, speaking by telephone, but she said was no damage there

In the coastal town of Nosara, roughly 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of the epicenter, trees shook violently and light posts swayed. Teachers chased primary school students outside at the quake hit. Roads cracked and power lines fell to the ground.

A tsunami warning was in effect for Costa Rica, Panama and Nicaragua, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said in a bulletin. It said it was unknown if a tsunami was generated, but the warning was based on the size of the earthquake.

___

Associated Press writers Jack Chang and E. Eduardo Castillo contributed to this report from Mexico City.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com

Costa Rica

en.wikipedia.org

Costa Rica is a country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west, and the Caribbean Sea to the east. Wikipedia