4 killed in Guatemala earthquakes (UPDATE)

Inquirer.net
Wed, 09 Jul 2025 11:00 UTC

© AFP

This handout picture released by the Bomberos Voluntarios de Guatemala shows volunteer firefighters working to recover the bodies of two people who died after their vehicle was buried in rocks and soil during a landslide as a result of earthquakes in Santa Maria de Jesus, Guatemala, on July 8, 2025.

Two people were killed when their vehicle was buried under a landslide after a series of earthquakes shook much of the Central American country on Tuesday, Guatemalan authorities said.

The swarm of tremors up to 5.6 magnitude rattled the country on Tuesday afternoon, centered near the towns of Amatitlan and Alotenango southwest of the capital, seismological services reported.

"Unfortunately, human fatalities are confirmed" due to a landslide after rocks and earth buried a vehicle on a highway, said Andres Erazo, a spokesman for disaster coordination agency Conred.

The quakes were also felt in neighboring El Salvador.

The landslide occurred on a road southwest of the capital near the city of Antigua Guatemala in the central highlands.

President Bernardo Arevalo told reporters the quakes had also trapped a family of five, who were being rescued, and two others who were being treated for injuries after being freed.

The tremors forced dozens to evacuate buildings in Guatemala City where anti-earthquake alarms sounded, an AFP journalist reported.

Central America often experiences tremors due to the shifting Caribbean and Cocos tectonic plates.

AFP

Comment: Update July 10

AP reports:

Authorities on Wednesday confirmed a fourth death in Guatemala a day after dozens of earthquakes shook the country, leaving crumbled walls and roads blocked by landslides.

More than 150 earthquakes and aftershocks with magnitudes ranging from 3.0 to 5.7 have been reported since Tuesday afternoon.

President Bernardo Arévalo said on social media that the body of a woman who had been buried by debris south of Guatemala's capital had been recovered along with the body of her dog. He expressed his condolences to the victims' families, and was visiting a town near the epicenter.

Volunteer firefighters confirmed Wednesday that a 13-year-old boy's body had been recovered in the Sacatepequez department.

The other two victims were men killed by falling rocks while traveling in a truck on a road in the department of Escuintla, firefighters said.