The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PWTC) of the United States National Weather Service has lifted an alert that extended from Ecuador to the Pacific coastlines of Colombia, Panama, and Costa Rica following a massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake that destroyed buildings in Guayaquil and claimed more than 230 casualties.

The Observatory of Seismology and Volcanology of Costa Rica (Spanish acronym: OVSICORI) reported three quakes in our country and one in Guatemala, all four with epicenters in the Pacific coast.

About an hour after the PWTC issued its final threat message, thus lifting the tsunami alert everywhere except Ecuador, the OVSICORI reported a magnitude 2.6 earthquake in the Garabito canton of the Puntarenas province, about 8.1 kilometers northeast of Jaco Beach, a coastal community popular among foreign visitors and expatriates from the United States.

The next quake reported took place after midnight and right on the Pacific coast region of the border between Mexico and Guatemala; this particular seism had a magnitude of 4.7 at a depth of 10 kilometers.

A magnitude 2.7 quake was detected 60 kilometers southeast of Cabo Blanco in the Puntarenas province; this temblor happened just before dawn.

Right around breakfast time, the OVSICORI instruments detected a seismic disturbance in Potrero Grande, located in the Coto Brus canton of the southern region of Costa Rica. This quake was measured with a magnitude 2.6.

No damage or injuries were reported in any of the four quakes above, and the only one that was actually felt was the 4.7 seism in Guatemala, where indigenous villagers were roused from sleep.

It is important to remember that Costa Rica is known as an actively seismic nation, and thus the quakes above are not so unusual.

As previously reported in The Costa Rica Star, President Rafael Correa of Ecuador cut short a trip to Italy to return, and the governments of Mexico and Venezuela mobilized personnel to gather relief goods and to prepare for rescue missions in the South American nation.