The National Seismologic Network (RSN in Spanish) and the Observatory of Volcanic and Seismic Activity in Costa Rica (OVSICORI) have issued reports of an earthquake just before 2:00 pm with an epicenter inland from the Gulf of Nicoya, 1 kilometer north of Costa de Pajaros. According to the OVSICORI, the quake was felt in parts of Guanacaste, Puntarenas, Jaco Beach, and the occidental region of the country.

The automated reading by the OVSICORI reported a depth of 32km and a magnitude of 4.5, while the RSN reading puts it deeper at 40 km and at a lesser magnitude of 5.0. The OVSICORI then revised the magnitude downward to 4.5.

In the last few days, a number of quakes have been detected in the western regions of Costa Rica, and many of them -including the most recent one- have been felt by residents of Playa Jaco. On March 16^th, two quakes of magnitudes 3.8 and 3.1 were recorded in Osa and Golfito in the Puntarenas province. From the 17^th until today, five quakes have registered in Puntarenas and Alajuela.

The recent seismic activity arrives in the heels of an unrelated earthquake cluster reported by Radio Reloj on March 17^th. In Tobosi de Cartago, an area known for its heavy seismic activity, more than 300 quakes were recorded in just two months, many of them at low depths -above 20 kilometers.

OVSICORI scientists are monitoring the Tobosi region in Cartago, but have made no mention of the earthquake clusters in the Pacific and Tobosi being related.

Social media reports reveal that the afternoon quake was felt in parts of San Ramon, Grecia, Alajuela, Heredia, and Jaco. Few reports came from the Central Valley and none from the Caribbean.