Strong
6.5 magnitude earthquake strikes Costa Rica
An
earthquake initially reported as 6.5 magnitude
on the Richter scale by USGS has just rocked Costa Rica. Local
media is reporting magnitudes from 6.2 to 6.4.
The
epicenter is being reported as being 5km northeast of Hojancha in the
province of Guanacaste, or 7km southeast of Nicoya, the location of
the 7.6 magnitude earthquake which struck Costa Rica on September
5th.
Reports
of strong shaking are being reported throughout the entire country.
A
series of tremors measuring 4.6on
the Richter scale broke out in the district at 9:42 pm Monday and
lasted for about three seconds, said Le Van Tuan, chief of the
district People’s Committee’s Secretariat.
Thousands
of locals rushed out of their houses in panic after they heard loud
blasts and felt the ground shaking, houses’ walls cracking, and
things inside the houses falling, Tuan said. “Many items on a table
in my house fell down to the floor and my children cried and screamed
when hearing explosions that sounded like the sounds of bombings,”
he said.
South
Africa has been pounded by some hazardous weather over the past few
days.
The
weather first turned severe on Thursday in the southwest of the
country. 32 hikers had to be rescued after being trapped by heavy
rain on the Whale Trail near Bredasdorp.
The
worst of the weather struck in the southeast of the country.
According to provincial disaster management officials, eight people,
including a five-year-old boy, died in the severe weather in the
Eastern Cape.
The
deaths occurred whilst people were attempting to cross streams or
when their vehicles were washed away.
The
flooding was so severe, that it even washed away a section of the
main N2 highway, which links Grahamstown to Port Elizabeth.
As
well as torrential rain, the weather system also delivered large
hailstones. Some reports say that the hail was as big as tennis balls
in some parts of Johannesburg. The ice smashed into cars and broke
windows of many homes and businesses, and caused a number of traffic
accidents.
The
severe weather is due to a low pressure which is still delivering
widespread thunderstorms across many parts of the country. The
treacherous conditions are expected to continue across southern parts
of the Western and Eastern Cape during Monday, before clearing away
from the southern regions on Tuesday.
Residents
in Fujairah have described how they fled from their homes when they
felt mild tremors during an earthquake on Sunday night.
The
National Centre of Meteorology and Seismology (NCMS) said yesterday
that three mild earthquakes shook northern parts of the UAE and the
Oman Sea.
The
weathermen said in a statement that the first quake struck at 8.13pm
in the sea about 33km north of Fujairah city and measured 3.8 in
magnitude on the Richter scale.
The
second tremor of 4.6 magnitude was felt 200km northeast of Fujairah
at 8.38pm and a third shook Fujairah at about 9.07pm and was of 3.1
magnitude.
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