Strong earthquake hits El Salvador

August 27, 2012 11:32 am | Updated July 01, 2016 07:48 pm IST - GOLDEN, Colorado

A strong magnitude-7.4 earthquake struck off the coast of El Salvador followed an hour later by a magnitude-5.4 aftershock, authorities said early Monday. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

A tsunami warning was put into effect for Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Panama and Mexico after the quake struck at 10-37 p.m. Sunday. The warning was later rescinded.

David Walsh, an oceanographer with the Pacific Tsunami Center in Ewa Beach, Hawaii, said a minor, 10-centimeter (7.8-inch) tsunami was registered off Acajutla, El Salvador.

The quake was located 138 km south-southwest of San Miguel, the U.S. Geological Survey reported on its web site. The temblor took place at a depth of 53 km. The second quake registered about an hour later in the same area at a depth of 57.8 km.

Alfonso Lara, a technician with El Salvador’s Civil Protection agency said authorities were alerted to the threat of a tsunami. “We are doing a general monitoring of the entire coast through our technicians and representatives,” he said.

On Sunday, dozens of small to moderate earthquakes struck southeastern California, knocking trailer homes off their foundations and shattering windows in a small farming town east of San Diego. The largest quake registered at a magnitude 5.5 and was centered about 5 km northwest of the town of Brawley, according to the USGS. Another quake about an hour and a half earlier registered at magnitude 5.3. No injuries were reported.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.