7.6 Mww - COSTA RICA
Preliminary Earthquake Report
Magnitude 7.6 Mww
Date-Time
5 Sep 2012 14:42:10 UTC
5 Sep 2012 08:42:10 near epicenter
5 Sep 2012 08:42:10 standard time in your timezone
Location 10.120N 85.347W
Depth 40 km
Distances
60 km (38 miles) SSE (167 degrees) of Liberia, Costa Rica
127 km (79 miles) SSW (209 degrees) of San Carlos, Nicaragua
141 km (88 miles) W (276 degrees) of SAN JOSE, Costa Rica
Powerful quake hits Costa Rica, tsunami warning issued
11:42am EDT
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (Reuters) - A powerful 7.6-magnitude earthquake rocked Costa Rica on Wednesday, rattling buildings and cutting power in some areas of the capital.
Residents of San Jose said phones went down, electricity poles rattled and water flowed out of pools during the quake.
"It was terrible. I was on the third floor, I had never felt anything like it," said Stephanie Gonzalez, a 25-year-old masters student.
The quake's epicenter was in western Costa Rica about 87 miles from San Jose, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said, and it was felt as far away as Managua, the capital of neighboring Nicaragua.
"It was very strong, everyone is getting out because of the tsunami alert," said a worker at the Samara Tree House Inn on Costa Rica's Pacific coast.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a warning for Pacific coastlines of Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Panama. It had earlier warned of tsunamis for as far away as Mexico and Chile.
It was the biggest earthquake in Costa Rica since a 7.6 quake in 1991 left 47 dead. More recently, 40 died in a 6.1 magnitude quake in January 2009.