6 killed, 50 injured in Honduras quake

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(China Daily/Agencies)
Updated: 2009-05-29 14:47

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras: A powerful earthquake toppled more than two dozen homes in Honduras and Belize early yesterday, killing six people and injuring 50 people as terrified residents spilled from their homes across much of Central America.

A man works to clear the debris in front of collapsed supermarket "La Antorcha" after an earthquake in El Progreso May 28, 2009. [Agencies]

The magnitude-7.1 quake struck at 2:24 am (4:24 pm Beijing time yesterday) off the Caribbean coast of Honduras, 130 km northeast of the beach town of La Ceiba, according to the US Geological Survey in Golden, Colorado.

"People were running for the door," Alfredo Cedeno said from the reception desk at the Gran Hotel Paris in La Ceiba. "You could really feel it and you could see it - the water came out of the pool."

Reynaldo Funez, 15, was buried in his house in Pineda de la Lima, 200 km north of the capital, Tegucigalpa, and 6-year-old Deily Yazmin Santos was killed when her house collapsed in the beach town of Morazan, national fire commander Colonel Carlos Cordero said.

He said there were reports of two more deaths. In all, he said, at least 40 people were injured, most along the Caribbean coast.

"It was an earthquake of great proportions," said Ana Maria Rivera, spokeswoman for the Honduran emergency commission.

Democracy Bridge, which spans the country's largest river, the Ulua, collapsed in the town of El Progreso, Cordero said. The bridge is one of two connecting the northern city of San Pedro Sula, Honduras' second-largest, with the rest of the country. Officials were evaluating the second bridge to make sure it was safe.

"The central part of the bridge fell into the river," Cordero said.

San Pedro Sula is scheduled to host a summit of foreign ministers of the Organization of American States next week. There was no immediate indication that the event would be affected.

In all, at least 24 houses collapsed along Honduras' Caribbean coast, according to Carlos Gonzalez, deputy director of the Permanent Emergency Commission.

At least five wooden houses on stilts collapsed in three Belizean coastal towns, while Belize City residents ran into the street as glasses and framed pictures crashed off of shelves. A water tower toppled in the town of Independence and electricity was out all the way to the Mexican border, local officials said.

Closest to the epicenter were the idyllic islands of Roatan and Utila, where officials and hotel employees said there were no injuries or major damage. A tsunami watch was canceled for Honduras, Belize and Guatemala when no unusual waves appeared.

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