Guatemala City/Prensa Latina
An earthquake of magnitude 6.7 on the Richter scale shook several departments of Guatemala today, a fact confirmed by the Institute of Seismology, Volcanology, Meteorology and Hydrology (Insivumeh).
The entity recorded the tremor this morning with the epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, at a depth of 26 kilometers, 82 from the head of the department of Rethaluleu, 90 from San Marcos and 100 from the southwestern Mazatenango.
Several areas of the city, the municipalities of Mixco, Amatitlán and Villa Nueva, as well as in Sololá, Quetzaltenango, Sacatepéquez and Chimaltenango described the impact, especially always difficult for tall buildings.
The shock was also noticeable in Alta Verapaz, Baja Verapaz, Escuintla, Huehuetenango, Quiché, Retalhuleu, San Marcos, Santa Rosa, Suchitepéquez, Totonicapán and Zacapa.
The National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction first specified that it carries out monitoring in these locations to be able to establish if there is material or personal damage as a result of the event.
Their first data later indicated landslides on the Citi-Zarco Route, kilometers 208 and 215 belonging to the municipality of Zunil, Quetzaltenengo, while social networks show other impacted roads in points of Quetzaltenango and San Marcos.
The Ministry of Health reported that the National Hospital in this last district was left with damage to the false ceiling and some of the lamps.
Although he also mentioned some cracks in the building, he stressed that it did not cause injuries to patients or interruption in the provision of services.
On 15 Avenue in zone 1 of Quetzaltenango, neighbors reported the collapse of a wall and roof of a home, among other damages in nearby areas.
Data from Insivumeh in Guatemala show that since the beginning of 2024, there have been more than a thousand seismic events (281 last March and 267 in April), a figure greater than the 20 that are increasingly sensitive for the inhabitants of the land of the quetzal.
Before midnight on Friday, January 26, a temperature of 5.9 degrees (the highest intensity to date) surprised the population, without loss of human life and minor damage to infrastructure.
The Pacific Ring of Fire, the area with the greatest seismic and volcanic activity in the world, includes to the west Argentina, Bolivia, Canada, Colombia, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, the United States, El Salvador and Guatemala, among other nations.
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