More than 500 aftershocks, including one as strong as 5.1 on the Richter scale, continued to rattle Costa Rica one day after a 7.6-magnitude quake jolted northwest Guanacaste province early Wednesday. According to the latest report from Costa Rica's Volcano and Earthquake Watch (Ovsicori), issued at 7:30 am local time (1330 GMT) Thursday, some 530 aftershocks stronger than 2 on the Richter scale have been registered, with the strongest occurring before dawn on Thursday, at 3:07 am (0907 GMT).
The epicenter of the 5.1 quake was also located in Guanacaste, 151 kilometers west of the capital San Jose, and 14 kilometers beneath the earth's surface, seismic experts said. Aftershocks as strong as 6 on the Richter scale are normal as shifting tectonic plates release energy following an earthquake of major magnitude, like the quake on Wednesday, said the experts.
© Kent Gilbert/XinhuaWilmer Sequeir (R) and his wife Maritsa Villareal (L) watch the debris of their home affected by Wednesday's earthquake, in Nosara, 290 km northeast of San Jose, Costa Rica, on Sept. 6, 2012. Costa Rica's Earthquake and Volcano Observatory counted 530 aftershocks by 13:30 GMT Thursday, including one with a magnitude of 5.1 and three others above 4, after the 7.6-magnitude quake that affected the country on Wednesday.