A strong earthquake measuring 7.6 magnitude on the Richter scale shook Central America and southern Mexico earlier today, collapsing buildings and cutting power in El Salvador.
The United States Geological Survey said it recorded the quake's epicenter about 65 miles (105 km) southeast of El Salvador's capital, San Salvador, off the Pacific coast.
"Based on its location and size, we believe this earthquake may have caused substantial damage", USGS geophysicist Bruce Presgrave said. "This, very definitely, is a dangerous quake". El Salvador Radio reported four dead in the province of Santa Ana, and that the road between the capital and the nation's second city, Santa Ana, 35 miles (56 km) to the north, was blocked by a landslide.
Press reports said the quake knocked over buildings across Central America, injuring dozens of people and killing at least one in Guatemala, though officials could not confirm those reports.
Javier Castellanos of the Red Cross in Mexico told local radio that mudslides and collapsed buildings had injured 10 people along El Salvador's coast, who were being treated by the agency.
Press reports said the quake left several cities in El Salvador without electricity or phone services.
Mexico's National Seismological Office said the quake occurred at 11:34 a.m. (1734 GMT). It was felt across El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras, as well as the southern Mexican state of Chiapas, which borders Central America.
REUTERS