7.1 Earthquake Topples Homes In Honduras, Belize

Powerful quake kills at least one in Honduras

May 28, 2009
TEGUCIGALPA
(AFP)

– A powerful 7.1 magnitude earthquake shook Honduras on Thursday killing at least one person and sending panicked residents fleeing into the streets, officials said.

The main tremor off the coast rattled the country for more than 30 seconds and a tsunami alert was maintained for more than 90 minutes for Honduras and neighboring Guatemala and Belize.

The quake struck at 2:24 am (0824 GMT), according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). The shallow 10 kilometer (six mile) depth added to the power of the quake.

Worried inhabitants poured onto the streets of Tegucigalpa and other towns in the nation of 7.6 million people, local radio stations reported.

One person was killed and another injured when their home collapsed in La Lima, some 230 kilometers (142 miles) north of the capital, a Red Cross official told local radio.

Separately, Red Cross representative Jesse Salazar in Tegucigalpa said there had been power outages and that no contact had been made with the Roatan, the island nearest the quake.

The epicenter was 130 kilometers (80 miles) north of La Ceiba on the Honduras coast and 63 kilometers (39 miles) northeast of Roatan on the Isles de la Bahia in the Caribbean, the USGS.

Roatan is the biggest of the Bahia islands which are a major draw for American and European tourists.

Residents of the islands said they felt three quakes, Salazar said. The longest lasted more than 30 seconds and was felt across Honduras. The other two were about five seconds.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued the tsunami watch immediately following the quake, but lifted it later when no reports of giant waves were made.

The last major earthquake to rattle the Central American nation was a 6.7 magnitude temblor in July 1999, the USGS said.