Powerful 7.6 Earthquake Hits Costa Rica – Photos

Costa Rica’s Minister of Public Safety Mario Zamora walks in the ruins of the Bellavista Catholic Church in Bellavista after a 7.6 magnitude earthquake, in the mountains of Nandayure, 150 km (93 miles) northwest of San Jose September 5, 2012 . A powerful earthquake rocked Costa Rica on Wednesday, killing at least two people, sparking landslides, knocking down buildings, and briefly triggering a tsunami warning. The Red Cross said two people died in Guanacaste, the northwestern province at the epicenter of the earthquake, which split open tarmac roads, cracked gravestones and sent books tumbling off library shelves. REUTERS/Zoraida Diaz

A powerful earthquake shook Costa Rica on Wednesday.

It killed at least two people.

The quake was centered about 38 miles (60 kilometers) from the town of Liberia and 140 kilometres (87 miles) west of the capital, of San Jose.

The magnitude was estimated at 7.9 but soon downgraded to 7.6.

Three strong aftershocks of magnitudes 4.6, 4.5 and 4.4 followed the powerful earthquake.

The quake was deep, at 25 miles (41 kilo meters) below the surface, so it caused less damage.

This area is a seismically active zone where the Cocos tectonic plate dives beneath the Caribbean plate. 

It was reported that roads were cracked, some houses, buildings and at least one bridge were damaged.

It also caused landslides which blocked highways.

In the town of Hojancha, a few miles (kilometers) from the epicenter, city official Kenia Campos said the quake knocked down some houses and landslides blocked several roads.

This is a disaster!

A powerful, magnitude-7.6 earthquake shook Costa Rica and a wide swath of Central America on Wednesday, collapsing some houses, blocking highways and causing panic and at least one death from a heart attack. (Sept. 5, 2012)

A powerful earthquake rocked Costa Rica on Wednesday – damaging buildings and briefly triggering a tsunami warning.

Earth partially covers a road after a landslide was triggered by an earthquake in Samara, Costa Rica, Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012. A powerful, magnitude-7.6 earthquake shook Costa Rica and a wide swath of Central America on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Danica Coto

This photo posted to an Instagram account belonging to a person identified as Callie McCoy, shows videos strewn on the floor of a video store at the Paseo de las Flores mall in San Jose, Costa Rica, after an earthquake struck Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Callie McCoy via Instagram)

A wall at the University of Costa Rica’s school of electrical engineering is damaged after an earthquake in San Jose, Costa Rica, Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Thomas Dooley)