Western Guatemala shaken by another strong earthquake

People in San Marcos, which was badly affected by Thursday's earthquake, ran into the streets in panic when the earth started shaking again on Sunday, the newspaper Prensa Libre reported. The earthquake was felt throughout the Central American country.

 

There were no reports of damage or casualties in Sunday'searthquake, which had a magnitude of 6.2, according to Guatemala's seismological institute, Insuvimeh. Eddy Sanchez, director of Insuvimeh, said the seismic activity could go on for weeks.

 

The US Geological Survey (USGS) said the earthquake struck at 4:15pm (2215 GMT) and it also said its magnitude was 6.2 on the Richter scale. The epicentre was under the Pacific Ocean about 180 kilometres west-south-west of Guatemala City, the USGS said.

 

Thursday's earthquake - the worst to hit Guatemala in decades -struck in the same area. Emergency service officials initially put the death toll at 52, but the latest official report on Sunday placed the death toll at 44. More than 2,000 houses were destroyed.

 

Sunday's quake forced President Otto Perez Molina to interrupt anews conference in which he was reporting about assistance for the victims of Thursday's quake, news reports said.

 

The Thursday quake hit hardest in the south-western departments of San Marcos and Quetzaltenango near the border with Mexico and was followed by about 30 aftershocks.

 

Molina said Thursday's quake was the worst to hit his country since 1976, when an earthquake killed 23,000 people.//DPA