A massive earthquake of magnitude 7.0 has hit offshore El Salvador, following which a Tsunami alert was issued.
The earthquake centre was 149km southwest of Puerto El Triunfo, off the coast of El Salvador at a depth of 33km. The quake was said to have occurred at 1:43 p.m. ET at a depth of 33 km.
Officials have immediately isolated a massive 300km of the affected Central American coastline for a possible tsunami hit. But after some time the tsunami issue was lifted.
As per Al Jazeera, U.S. Geological Survey has announced that there were no immediate reports of damage as of now because of the earthquake.
The earthquake was felt mainly in the regions of Chalatenango, San Salvador, Cabanas and San Miguel in El Salvador. Tremors were also felt in the Nicaragun capital of Managua, and in the Costa Rican capital San Jose and in Guatemala.
Adding to the woes, a violent hurricane of 110 miles (177 km) per hour has also struck Central America at the same time of earthquake, as stated by Indian Express.
Hurricane Otto along with the earthquake has left the people of Nicaragua, El Salvador and Costa Rica in a state of panic and fear.
U.S. National Hurricane Center has warned a major possibility flooding and mud slides due to the heavy rains caused by hurricane Otto.
Nicaragua has summoned a state of emergency because of back to back quake and the storm.
Al Jazeera reporter from Guatemala stated that authorities of the countries on the path of the hurricane have been preparing for days and they are hoping that this will limit the damage further.
El Salvador lies along the Pacific Ring of Fire, and is thus subject to significant tectonic activity, including frequent earthquakes and volcanic activity.
