Report of Giant Wave Off Pacific Coast Causes Alarm
A pilot on a commercial flight headed to Ecuador from Costa Rica reported a huge wave 100 kilometres (60 miles) off Parrita, alarming thousands of residents of the area that included Quepos and Manuel Antonio.

The radio control tower at the Juan Santamaría international airport (San José) received the report at 4:25pm.

The pilot who regularly flies over the Pacific ocean informed the tower that he had seen what appeared to be a wave of between 40 and 60 kilometres in length. The control tower immediately alerted the Cruz Roja (Red Cross) and Cuerpo de Bomberos (Fire and Rescue) who began with preparations.

The Comité de Operaciones de Emergencias (COE) - the emergency response committee - was also alerted, who contacted the Centro de Investigaciones en Ciencias del Mar of the Universidad de Costa Rica (UCR), to investigate the giant wave.

Norman Vega of the Instituto Meteorológico Nacional (Meteriologial Insitute) informed at 4:35pm, ten minutes later, that there was no phenomenon reported that could cause such a wave.

By 5pm, residents, especially on Quepos, continued their calls to the 911 emergency line to get more information as to what to expect and to do. By 5:50pm, a number of pilots flying over the area could not find any abnormal activity and the emergency was called off.

A similar report was made in Honduras that sent a number of coastal communities into alert status.

Lidier Esquivel, head of the Prevención de la Comisión Nacional de Emergencias, said that for such a wave that either seismic activity and/or diverse atmospheric conditions must be present, and a check with scientists who monitor the ocean and seismic activity, none was reported.