Four earthquakes hit Guatemala, killing three

GUATEMALA CITY, (Reuters) – Four earthquakes struck  southern Guatemala today within 2 1/2 hours, shaking  buildings in the capital and killing three people.  
The quakes struck near Guatemala’s southwestern coast in  the sugar cane-growing region around Santa Rosa, forcing the  evacuation of about 400 people and cutting electricity and  telephone services, emergency services said.  
One woman was killed when her house collapsed in the town  of Cuilapa, near the epicenter of the quakes, and two others  died after their cars were buried in a landslide on the  highway.  
“In Chiquimulilla, there’s a landslide … where vehicles  fell in and were buried. There are material damages to the  vehicles and two fatalities reported so far,” volunteer fire  brigade spokesman Mario Morales said.  
Thirteen people were hospitalized and classes were canceled  in the Santa Rosa region, but emergency services said they did not expect further severe aftershocks.  
“It’s unlikely that there will be any more events bigger  than what we have already experienced,” said Alejandro  Maldonado, head of the country’s disaster coordination agency.  
“The situation is completely under control.”  
An initial 4.8 magnitude quake at 12 p.m. local time (1800  GMT) was followed about half an hour later by a second quake of 5.8 magnitude, the U.S. Geological Survey said. There were two  smaller ones after that. The epicenters of the quakes were near  Cuilapa and the largest one had a depth of 25 miles (40 km),  the USGS said. They shook buildings in Guatemala City, about 33  miles (52 km) away.  
The area is earthquake-prone with more than 15,000 tiny  quakes since 1979, said Eddy Sanchez, the head of Guatemala’s  geological institute.  
Many of the houses in the area around Santa Rosa are made  of mud bricks and their weak structures are more vulnerable  to collapse during a quake, he said.  
“4.8 is a moderate magnitude for well-constructed buildings  but for mud brick buildings it’s very dangerous,” he said.