MAGNITUDE 7.6 EARTHQUAKE OCCURS OFFSHORE COSTA RICA

September 5, 2012

Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, University

of North Carolina, USA

CAUSE: INTERACTION OF THE COCOS, CARIBBEAN, AND SOUTH

AMERICAN PLATES

The strong quake, which occurred at 10:42 a.m. EDT,

was centered under the Nicoya Peninsula of Costa

Rica, 140 km (87 miles) west of the capital, San Jose

Seismologists have been predicting a strong quake in

that area for years

GOOD NEWS—BAD NEWS ABOUT THE LOCATION

• GOOD NEWS: The earthquake was deep [41 km, 25 mi].

• BAD NEWS: The epicenter was 10km (6mi) northeast of Hojancha, Costa Rica and 140km (87mi) west of the capital city, San Jose

MORE GOOD NEWS: NO TSUNAMI

• A tsunami warning was issued immediately for the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Columbia, Ecuador, Guatemala and Peru, and lifted after a few hours.

THE BEST NEWS

• Damage, mortality, and morbidity were surprisingly light for two reasons: 1) the deep focal depth, and 2) the implementation of a modern building code with seismic provisions.

SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACTS

• Costa Rica's National Emergency Commission reported debris on roads, power outages and some structural damage in homes, especially on the Nicoya Peninsula

SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACTS (continued)

• Only one person died (a heart attack).

• Red Cross ambulances evacuated patients from two damaged hospitals.

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