SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador: A strong earthquake off the Pacific Coast of Central America shook the region on Thursday, and could prompt hazardous tsunami waves, US monitoring agencies said, just as a hurricane barreled into the Caribbean coasts of Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
Emergency services in El Salvador said on Twitter there were no immediate reports of damage at a national level.
The 7.0 magnitude quake, initially reported as a magnitude 7.2, was very shallow at 10.3 kilometers (6.4 miles) below the seabed, which would have amplified its effect. Its epicenter was located some 149 km (93 miles) south-southwest of Puerto Triunfo in El Salvador, according to the US Geological Survey.
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega declared a state of emergency due to the quake and Hurricane Otto, which landed on the country’s southeastern coast earlier on Thursday, his spokeswoman said.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center warned that “hazardous tsunami waves are possible for coasts located within 300 kilometers (186 miles) of the earthquake epicenter.”
El Salvador’s government also said it saw the threat of tsunami waves hitting the coast.
Earlier on Thursday, the Category 2 hurricane hit land near the southeastern coast of Nicaragua, where thousands had already been evacuated away from vulnerable coastal areas and into shelters.
Magnitude 7 offshore quake shakes Central America as hurricane hits
Magnitude 7 offshore quake shakes Central America as hurricane hits
North Korea says it respects Iran’s choice of new supreme leader: KCNA
- North Korea, a longstanding US adversary, has previously condemned the US-Israeli attack on Iran an “illegal act of aggression”
- Defying US President Donald Trump’s desire to have a say in who runs Iran, the Islamic republic on Sunday named Mojtaba Khamenei to replace his father, longtime ruler Ali Khamenei, who died in an Israeli airstrike on February 28
SEOUL: North Korea respects Iran’s choice of new supreme leader, state media reported Wednesday, as it accused the United States and Israel of destroying regional peace.
“With regard to the recent official announcement that Iran’s Assembly of Experts elected the new leader of the Islamic Revolution, we respect the rights and choice of the Iranian people to elect their supreme leader,” an unnamed Foreign Ministry spokesperson was quoted as saying by state news agency KCNA.
Defying US President Donald Trump’s desire to have a say in who runs Iran, the Islamic republic on Sunday named Mojtaba Khamenei to replace his father, longtime ruler Ali Khamenei, who died in an Israeli airstrike on February 28.
North Korea, a longstanding US adversary, has previously condemned the US-Israeli attack on Iran an “illegal act of aggression.”
On Wednesday, the North Korean spokesperson reiterated that position, saying that the United States and Israel “are destroying the regional peace and security foundations and escalating instability worldwide.”
“Any rhetorical threats and military action, which violate the political system and territorial integrity of the relevant country, interfere in its internal affairs and openly advocate the attempt to overthrow its social system, deserve worldwide criticism and rejection as they can never be tolerated,” the spokesperson added.
In recent months, the Trump administration has mounted a push to revive high-level talks with Pyongyang, eyeing a potential summit between the US president and the North’s Kim Jong Un this year.
After largely ignoring those overtures for months, Kim recently said that the two nations could “get along” if Washington accepted Pyongyang’s nuclear status.
