Wednesday, September 5, 2012

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

Powered by Leaflet

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

Event Time

2012-09-05 14:42:10 UTC

2012-09-05 08:42:10 UTC-06:00 at epicenter

2012-09-05 08:42:10 UTC-06:00 system time

Nearby Cities

10km (6mi) NE of Hojancha, Costa Rica

11km (7mi) ESE of Nicoya, Costa Rica

30km (19mi) ESE of Santa Cruz, Costa Rica

44km (27mi) SW of Canas, Costa Rica

140km (87mi) W of San Jose, Costa Rica

All Regions	Pacific Ocean	Hawaiʻi	Indian Ocean	Caribbean Sea
Page last loaded at: Wed, 05 Sep 2012 16:05:08 UTC. Tsunami Messages for All Regions (Past 30 days) Click on the map or table below for more information.

All Regions	Pacific Ocean	Hawaiʻi	Indian Ocean	Caribbean Sea
Page last loaded at: Wed, 05 Sep 2012 15:59:18 UTC. Tsunami Messages for the Pacific Ocean (Past 30 days) Click on the map or table below for more information. Image last created on Wed, 05 Sep 2012 15:58:43 UTC.

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.

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.

___

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

Brazil...Many Still Missing

Many still missing in Brazil floods as criticism grows

BY STUART GRUDGINGS, REUTERS JANUARY 15, 2011 11:44 AM

More Images »

Gravediggers lower the coffin of a landslide victim into a grave in Teresopolis January 14, 2011.

Photograph by: Bruno Domingos, Reuters

TERESOPOLIS, Brazil - Dozens of flood survivors desperate for news of missing relatives lined up outside a morgue in the town of Teresopolis on Saturday as criticism grew of authorities' response to one of Brazil's worst natural disasters which has killed nearly 600 people.

Nearly four days after rains sparked floods and massive landslides, officials in this scenic mountain town are still struggling to cope with the scale of the catastrophe. The steadily rising death toll in the region north of Rio de Janeiro hit 591 on Saturday, Brazil's Civil Defense agency said, and President Dilma Rousseff declared three days of national mourning.

Cemeteries in Teresopolis have been overwhelmed by the number of bodies and Brazilian media reported that residents in isolated areas have been forced to bury victims themselves.

Mortuary officials in Teresopolis, where the official death toll is 257, are using two refrigerated fish trucks to hold dozens of bodies that have still not been identified.

Many residents fear their relatives are still buried under the surge of water, mud and rocks that tore a path of destruction through some villages on the outskirts of the town, suggesting the death toll could rise sharply. Authorities have not given estimates on the number of missing people.

Wemerly Moraes was waiting with his wife outside the morgue on Saturday morning to identify a body that could be the missing 2-year-old son of his sister, whose body has already been buried.

"This happened on Wednesday morning. When I went there on Thursday, there was still no one working to find victims," the 37-year-old builder said. "Maybe then he was still alive."

Up to half the victims of the disaster are feared to be children, charity Save the Children said.

'WITHOUT WORDS'

Gardener Odair da Silva told Globo television that he had to dig out the bodies of his father and stepmother from the wreckage of their home near Nova Friburgo town, where at least 267 people died. He left their corpses on the side of a road.

"I asked firefighters for help but they aren't giving much priority to helping people," he said.

The extent of the damage has posed a challenge for Rousseff, Brazil's new president, and exposed major flaws in emergency planning and disaster prevention in a country that aspires to attain developed-nation status in coming years.

Rousseff visited the region on Thursday and pledged a swift relief effort that has yet to pan out in some of the hardest-hit areas, though anger has so far been mostly directed at state and local authorities. The federal government has earmarked 780 million reais ($460 million) in emergency aid and donations were starting to pour in from around the country.

The torrent of earth and water swept like a tsunami through mostly poor communities, smashing houses and killing whole families as they slept. Some corpses in Teresopolis were found several miles away from their houses.

Emergency teams are still struggling to reach some areas and have had to dig through the rubble with their hands because vehicles and heavy equipment could not get through. Steady rainfall is further hampering rescuers.

Jorge Alfonso, a 42-year-old cook, said he lost 14 relatives when a mudslide virtually wiped out the village of Campo Grande, including his mother, two sisters, a brother and two adult sons. So far, only six of the bodies have been found.

"I'm without words," said Alfonso, who has been moving back and forth between the cemetery to bury his relatives and the mortuary to identify them ever since the disaster struck.

Issues On Call

Ad

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

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

Powerful Earthquake Reported in Costa Rica

Summary

General

Event Time

Nearby Cities

Tsunami Messages for All Regions (Past 30 days)

Tsunami Messages for the Pacific Ocean (Past 30 days)