A magnitude 6.8 earthquake with an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean shook El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua on the night of July 18, leaving no victims or significant damage, according to a preliminary report from the Salvadoran Ministry of the Environment.
The telluric movement was registered at 6:22 p.m. local time (00:22 GMT) and its epicenter was located 66 km south of El Espino beach, in the department of Usulután, about 200 km southeast of San Salvador, the official report said.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) set the magnitude at 6.5.
The Salvadoran ministry specified that the depth of the telluric movement was 51 km, in the subduction zone of the Pacific where the Cocos and Caribbean plates collide.
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The agency ruled out the tsunami threat.
Civil Protection of El Salvador reported that it carried out “the rescue” of a person “trapped in an elevator” at the San Juan de Dios hospital, in the city of San Miguel, 140 km east of San Salvador.
“According to the information at this time, there is no victim to regret,” Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele tweeted.
On highways in the center and east of El Salvador, the authorities reported the detachment of rocks that partially affected free movement.
The seismologist Elías Campos reported that after the initial movement, 14 more aftershocks were registered.
The quake was felt in most of El Salvador, as well as in Nicaragua and Honduras.
In Honduras, the early warning coordinator of the Permanent Contingency Commission, Juan José Reyes, told the press that “the movement was felt throughout the country,” and with “greater intensity” in the Gulf of Fonseca, which they share with El Salvador and Nicaragua.
The Central American region registers high seismicity due to being located in the Pacific Ring of Fire, as well as due to the activity of its volcanic chain.
