Costa Rica Earthquake Caldera Highway Costa Rica authorities have registered to date about a thousand aftershocks after the strong earthquake struck the North West coast measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale that hit the country on Wednesday and caused moderate damage, while 350 people remain in shelters.
The Volcanological and Seismological Observatory of Costa Rica (OVSICORI) said Friday in a statement that until 7.30 pm (13.30 GMT) were counted 925 aftershocks, which had its epicenter at Samara, Province of Guanacaste (Pacific), some 200 kilometers northwest of San Jose.
During this time the people of Guanacaste have reported several aftershocks have seen, the strongest one of magnitude 4 on the Richter scale occurred at 13.53 local time (19.53 GMT).
The strongest aftershock after the main earthquake was a magnitude 5.1 on the Richter scale, occurred last Thursday morning.
For its part, the National Emergency Commission (CNE) said Wednesday that 350 people remain in shelters for fear returning home because of the aftershocks or because they were affected.
The CNE counted 234 homes with some damage after the quake, most located in areas near the epicenter and along the Pacific coast and some in mountainous areas of central Mexico.
Officials said basic services are operating normally throughout Costa Rica and only Monsignor Sanabria Hospital in Puntarenas province (central Pacific), has been closed for the damages suffered.
For its part, the National Chamber of Tourism (Canatur) indicated that all access roads to tourist areas are enabled, that 99% of the country’s hotels are operating normally and that only 10% reported some damage at least the earthquake.
Canatur President, Juan Carlos Ramos, appealed to tourists not to cancel their reservations at hotels, because “the Costa Rican tourism is working without any problems.”
The government still does not quantify the damage, but the opposition parties have requested to use a Chinese donation of $ 8 million.
The Wednesday’s quake was the second strongest in the history of Costa Rica, only surpassed by the magnitude 7.7 occurred in 1991 in the province of Limón, on the Caribbean coast, which killed 48 people.
In a statement the Costa Rican government thanked countries for their solidarity and offers of assistance.
EFE
The Costa Rica News (TCRN)
San Jose Costa Rica
