Two dead, 75 injured in earthquake off Panama

PANAMA CITY (AFP) Dec 25, 2003
At least two people, including a two-week-old infant, were killed and 75 people injured at dawn Thursday when an earthquake shook the Panamanian port city of Puerto Armuelles near the Costa Rican border, Red Cross and civil defense officials said.

The child was killed when a wall of his family's home collapsed in Puerto Armuelles, some 500 km (300 miles) west of Panama City, officials said.

A Costa Rican Red Cross official said radio reports from Puerto Armuelles indicated a hospital there had been heavily damaged by the quake and was being evacuated, adding Costa Rica was dispatching aid to the affected region.

Costa Rica's Seismological and Vulcanological Observatory earlier reported an undersea quake measuring 6.1 on the Richter Scale at dawn off the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica near the Panamanian border.

It said the epicenter of the quake was about seven kilometers (4 miles) off Puerto Armuelles.

Costa Rican authorities reported heavy damage to homes in the border region abutting Panama, adding dozens of people were being treated for injuries in a hospital 300 km (180 miles) south of San Jose.

TERRA.WIRE