Heavy shaking reported in El Salvador
An earthquake has hit El Salvador's capital, according to various reports crossing.
It hit at 1:43 or 1:43 pm ET
A few months ago a quake hit in neighbouring Guatemala.
Initial reports say it was 5.4 magnitude but some are saying 7.1. The low end of that scale is nothing by Japanese or Chilean standards but in a lesser-developed country, it's likely to cause damage. If it's 7.1, then the damage will be widespread and potentially devastating.
Update: The USGS reports a 7.2 magnitude quake off the coast of El Salvador. The good news is that it was 153km from the coast. The early word from the US Pacific Warning Center is that hazardous waves are possible within 300km of the epicentre.
That's right on the boundary of Caribbean Plate and Cocos Plate. It's an area of intense seismic activity.
Update 2: El Salvador has now issued a tsunami alert but at the same time say there are no immediate reports of damages onshore at a national level.
What's extra-damaging for the region is that Hurricane Otto is bearing down at the same time. It's a Category 2 storm. The good news is that most people have been evacuated from the coast due to the storm.
Update 3: Guatemala has also issued a tsunami alert.
Update 4: The US Pacific tsunami warning center now says the threat has passed.
