Moderate quake hits Panama/Costa Rica border region

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (Reuters) – A moderate earthquake with a magnitude of 5.6 today struck the border region of the contiguous Central American nations of Panama and Costa Rica, the U.S. Geological Survey said, but no damage was immediately reported.

The quake had a relatively shallow depth of 11 km (7 miles). Costa Rica’s National Emergency Commission said no injuries or damages were reported, a spokesman for the commission said.

In Panama, one of the country’s leading newspapers, La Prensa, quoted the director of the national civil protection service as saying that no damages or injuries were immediately reported in his country from the pre-dawn quake.

Its epicenter was about 12 km (7 miles) southwest of Guabito, Panama and about 79 km (48 miles) southeast of the Caribbean port of Puerto Limon in Costa Rica, the USGS said.

The quake struck at 4:41 a.m. local time (0941 GMT), the USGS said.