7.5-magnitude quake hits Guatemala

[bananas]

Source: Associated Press

A strong earthquake struck off the Pacific coast of Guatemala Wednesday morning, rocking the capital and shaking buildings as far away as Mexico City and El Salvador. Guatemala's emergency management agency said on its Twitter account that it had received preliminary reports of one death from the quake.

The U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was a possibility of a local tsunami, within 100 or 200 miles of the epicenter, but they were not issuing an immediate warning for the broader region. The magnitude-7.5 quake, about 20 miles deep, was centered off the town of Champerico. Nicaragua's disaster management said it had issued a local tsunami alert, but there were no immediate reports of a tsunami on the country's Pacific coast.

People fled buildings in Guatemala City, in Mexico City and in the capital of the Mexican state of Chiapas, across the border from Guatemala.

A reporter in the town of San Marcos, about 80 miles north of the epicenter, told local radio station Emisoras Unidas that houses had collapsed onto residents and smashed televisions and other appliances had been scattered into the streets.

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Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57546394/7.5-magnitude-quake-hits-guatemala/

[bananas]

1. landslides have cut off highways; houses collapsed onto residents

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/07/guatemala-earthquake-2012_n_2088693.html

Guatemala Earthquake 2012: USGS Reports Strong Quake

By ROMINA RUIZ-GOIRIENA 11/07/12 02:27 PM ET EST AP

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Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina said in a radio interview that the country of 14 million had been placed on its highest level of disaster alert and he asked people to evacuate tall buildings as an emergency measure. The country's minister of communications and infrastructure told Emisoras Unidas that landslides had cut off several highways in the west of the country, and it would take at least 24 hours to reestablish transport links to San Marcos, the capital of the department or state of the same name located along Guatemala's northwest border with Mexico.

A resident who identified herself as Mrs. Baglia told the radio station from the small town of San Pedro Sacatepequez, near San Marcos, that people had fled into the streets after being told of a tsunami alert.

"People are in distress and no one can calm down," she said.

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It was the biggest earthquake in Guatemala since a 7.5-magnitude temblor caused widespread death and destruction in the Central American country on Feb. 4, 1976. More than 23,000 people were killed and thousands more were injured in that earlier temblor, about 100 miles northwest of Guatemala City.

[bananas]

2. some photos of damage on weather channel website

some photos of damage at http://www.weather.com/news/guatemala-major-earthquake-damage-20121107
here's one:

"Dixon Vásquez from San Marcos sends these images of a wall that fell onto some vehicles."



chipiGT
“@NuestroDiario: Dixon Vásquez desde San Marcos manda estas imágenes de una pared que cayó sobre unos vehículos. pic.twitter.com/FyJv1idm”

[bananas]

3. Guatemalan president: preliminary reports of 15 dead

http://www.wric.com/story/20031040/usgs-reports-strong-guatemalan-earthquake

AP NewsAlert
Posted: Nov 07, 2012 9:05 AM PST Updated: Nov 07, 2012 12:15 PM PST

SAN MARCOS, Guatemala (AP) - Guatemalan president: preliminary reports of 15 dead in 7.4 quake.

[Judi Lynn]

4. Video footage at this link:

7.4 quake strikes Guatemala; at least 8 dead, 100+ missing
Xeni Jardin at 12:28 pm Wed, Nov 7

http://boingboing.net/2012/11/07/7-2-quake-strikes-guatemala-a.html

[arikara]

5. This could be very bad for them

The buildings aren't strong, there is a lot of adobe there.

[bananas]

7. Yes, and they're probably getting strong aftershocks. nt

[Judi Lynn]

9. 50 dead in Guatemala earthquake

Thursday 08th November 2012
50 dead in Guatemala earthquake

Nearly 50 people have been killed and dozens more are missing after a 7.4-magnitude earthquake hit off Guatemala's Pacific coast.

According to reports, the quake hit a very large area with damage reported in all but one of Guatemala's 22 states.

Landslides have buried roads and buildings shook from San Salvador and as far away as Mexico City, 600 miles to the northwest.

The quake was centred 15 miles off the coastal town of Champerico and was the strongest to hit Guatemala since a 1976 temblor that left 23,000 dead.

There have already been dozens of aftershocks, four of them over a magnitude of 5.

http://gulftoday.ae/portal/b342024d-94bd-4a8b-a3f8-4bcb6e967a10.aspx

[bananas]

6. The number of fatalities is rising very fast.

http://earthquake-report.com/2012/11/07/massive-earthquake-out-of-the-champerico-guatemala-coast/

Massive earthquake out of the Champerico, Guatemala coast – +50 people killed and +150 missing

Last update: November 7, 2012 at 9:49 pm by By Armand Vervaeck and James Daniell

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Keep this page open to read more details when they become available
Most recent information on top – Start of the article at the bottom

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Update 21:49 UTC :
The number of fatalities is rising very fast. We give you the numbers as they are appearing in the local press (this means that these numbers are NOT official).
- 63 deaths, 25 under rumble and more than 150 missing.
These are cruel numbers for a central-American earthquake.

Update 21:33 UTC :
Numbers are varying depending the source they are coming from. At one hand the official numbers which are usually very low and at the other hand numbers coming from reporters in the field.
Many sources (which we cannot verify) are giving the following numbers :
At least 29 people are dead, 155 injured and more than 100 houses destroyed
- The earthquake was felt strong in l Salvador, Mexico and Honduras.

Update 21:25 UTC : Damage as photographed by twitter user @ferchosiliezar
- President Otto Pérez Molina is currently on his way to the hardest hit areas. People in San Marcos are telling ER that there are heavily damaged houses in almost every street.

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[arikara]

8. Not too much news available on this yet

Have you heard more?

[bananas]

10. US Child Among the Many Dead

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2012/11/10/guatemala-earthquake-leaves-us-citizen-dead/

Guatemala Earthquake: US Child Among the Many Dead

Published November 10, 2012

Associated Press

SAN CRISTOBAL CUCHO, Guatemala – An 11-year-old boy killed in Guatemala along with nine relatives when a 7.4-magnitude earthquake buried them in rubble at their rock quarry was a U.S. citizen, the family said Friday.

Aldo Dominguez Vasquez was born in Santa Clara, California, and his parents still live in the United States, a cousin, Julio Vasquez, said.

The boy returned to Guatemala with his mother when he was 1 year old after his parents divorced. Shortly afterward, Aldo's mother returned to the United States to work and left the boy with an aunt and uncle who owned the quarry, Vasquez said.

Aldo, his uncle and aunt, six of their children and another cousin were working at the quarry when the earthquake hit Wednesday.

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