Magnitude 4.7 earthquake rocks Playas del Coco, surrounding area

OVSICORI reports that the quake’s epicenter was very near the popular beach community of Playas del Coco. (Epicenter is marked with a peg)

UPDATE: The United States Geological Service (USGS) has reported the quake as magnitude 5.1.

December 10th, 2013 (InsideCostaRica.com) A magnitude 4.7 earthquake has struck very near to the popular beach community of Playas del Coco, in the Guanacaste province of Costa Rica.

The Volcanological and Seismological Observatory of Costa Rica (OVSICORI) reports the earthquake as a magnitude 4.7 on the Richter scale, with its epicenter 3 kilometers east-northeast of Bahia Culebra, Guanacaste, striking at 11:28 a.m. local time.  The area is a very short distance from the popular beach communities of Playas del Coco, Playa Hermosa, and Playa Panama.  The agency described the earthquake as a “subduction” type.

A resident near the epicenter in Bahia Culebra said the quake “sounded like an explosion.”

Another nearby resident described a strong earthquake, but said the event did not last long.  ”It was strong enough to spark fear, but was over quickly,” Scott MacDougall, a resident in nearby Playa Hermosa, told Inside Costa Rica.

Residents in Liberia and Santa Cruz also reported strong shaking, while another person on the Peñas Blancas border with Nicaragua described the quake as “strong and long.”

There are no reports of injuries or damage at this time.