A moderately intense earthquake measuring magnitude-3.5 shook Costa Rica’s Pacific and central regions Friday morning. Since then, seven other quakes were reported over the weekend by the Volcanological and Seismological Observatory of Costa Rica’s (Ovsicori) automatic system.
By 2 a.m. Monday, two more quakes (magnitudes 3.1 and 3.6) had shaken the same area, according to Ovsicori. “Some of the quakes are caused by the subduction [sliding] of the Cocos plate under the Caribbean plate,” volcanologist Marino Protti said.
Five quakes had their epicenters near Costa Rican shores, while a strong magnitude-6.3 quake felt across the country at 9:15 p.m. Sunday originated on Panama’s Pacific coast, caused by a collision of the Cocos and Nazca plates, Protti said.
Ovsicori experts are reviewing records from their automatic-detection systems to confirm the epicenters. No damage has been reported so far.
