In the latest seismological event to happen in Costa Rica this week, a magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck off the country's southern coast at 2:37 p.m. Saturday, the National Seismological Network (RSN) reported.

The quake's epicenter was 29.8 kilometers off the coast of Puerto Jiménez, Puntarenas, along the Cocos Plate. It could be felt across southern Costa Rica and in parts of the capital, San José, according to an intensity map released by RSN.

There were no initial reports of damage.

Saturday's tremor followed a week of renewed volcanic activity at Turrialba Volcano, when several eruptions covered the Central Valley in ash and closed Juan Santamaría International Airport for several hours Thursday.

Earlier in April, two similar earthquakes shook the country on Good Friday with magnitudes of 4.8 and 5.2.

An earthquake measuring 7.8 in magnitude rocked Nepal today—killing over 1,400 people—and triggered an avalanche on Mt. Everest that has left at least 18 climbers dead at the South Base Camp and an unknown number missing or trapped.

With the climbing season in full swing, 700 climbers are in the region and over 300 are on the mountain itself, according to the Nepal Mountaineering Association.

"The avalanche apparently happened between the Khumbu Icefall and base camp," Ang Tshering of the Nepal Mountaineering Association reported to Sky News.

Everest ER posted on Facebook: "A huge avalanche off Pumori covered many tents in base camp. Many of our friends in base camp have been seriously injured and killed. With the help of nearly every able bodied friend in base camp, we moved our clinic to the IMG camp where we are caring for patients. We very limited communications at the moment. Pray for Nepal, friends. Namaste."

Carsten Lillelund Pedersen, a 45-year-old from Denmark who was in base camp at the time of the avalanche, told NBC News that he hid behind a rock until the avalanche had passed. He reports that his group has constructed a makeshift hospital in their base camp dining tent to treat the injured.

"We are treating casualties—like smaller fractures to the head, shoulder injuries, etc," he said to NBC via a Facebook interview.

Climbers in Camp 1, above the Khumbu Icefall, report being safe, as well as all teams on Annapurna, known for avalanches and closer to the center of the earthquake.

The epicenter struck between Kathmandu and Pokhara, according to the US Geological Survery. A number of historical buildings, including Kathmandu's landmark Dharahara tower and other Unesco world heritage sites, were destroyed.

It is the worst earthquake to hit Nepal in 81 years.


More information to follow

6.1 ML quake was felt in Haida Gwaii just before 7 a.m. PT
Two earthquakes rattled British Columbia late Thursday and early Friday morning, but they didn't cause any damage.

The first quake, which measured 4.2 ML, struck just south of the border in Idaho around 10:43 p.m PT Thursday. It was felt in the Kootenay communities of Castlegar and Creston.

It was one of three small quakes in the area since Thursday night, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

A strong 5.9-magnitude earthquake rattled New Zealand on Friday, seismologists said, panicking shoppers and residents but causing no major damage.

The quake hit at 3:36 pm (0336 GMT) with its epicentre about 66 kilometres (41 miles) from the South Island town of Kaikoura at a depth of 55 kilometres, the US Geological Survey said.

The local GeoNet monitoring service measured the quake at 6.2 and said it was felt across the entire country, but was unlikely to cause damage because it was so deep.

"I am advised that MCDEM (emergency management) hasn't received any reports of major injuries or damage," Civil Defence Minister Nikki Kaye said.

Time

1. 2015-04-25 06:45:21 (UTC)
2. Times in other timezones

Nearby Cities

1. 49km (30mi) E of Lamjung, Nepal
2. 69km (43mi) NW of Kirtipur, Nepal
3. 70km (43mi) NW of Kathmandu, Nepal
4. 70km (43mi) NE of Bharatpur, Nepal
5. 72km (45mi) NW of Patan, Nepal

Scientific Data

Three earthquakes up to magnitude-4.2 and nearly a half-dozen aftershocks jolted northern Idaho, with residents from Washington state to Montana saying they felt the tremors.

A Bonner County emergency dispatcher in Sandpoint said Friday morning that no injuries or damage were reported. The U.S. Geological Survey says a magnitude-4.1 quake hit first, around 7:32 p.m. Thursday, centered 30 miles northeast of Hayden.

"It was crazy, the whole house was shaking," said Charity Hadley, 37, of Sagle, who was outside on her deck with her dog, Bella. "She was running around the yard and barking and looking around like, 'What is this?'"

She said nothing was damaged in the house during the quake that she estimated lasted several minutes.

A second quake of magnitude-4.2 struck a little more than three hours later, waking up Hadley and her dog. That quake was centered 38 miles northeast of Hayden. Then, a magnitude-3.3 temblor hit at 1:28 a.m. Friday in the same area.

Also Friday, a magnitude-6.1 earthquake struck British Columbia's north coast, but a tsunami was not expected and no injuries or damage were reported.

The quake, measuring 7.9 magnitude on the Richter scale struck 50 miles east of Pokhara in Nepal on Saturday, about half way between the town and the capital Kathmandu

A total of 688 people have been killed after an earthquake devastated Nepal capital Kathmandu and the densely-populated surrounding area today.

The 7.9-magnitude quake also caused extensive damage with toppled walls and collapsed buildings after striking at noon local time, officials said.

Among the dead are a 15-year-old girl was killed in northern India after the earthquake brought down the wall of her home in a village near the border with Nepal.

Quake near Kathmandu brought down buildings and was felt in India and Pakistan, according to early reports

A powerful magnitude-7.9 earthquake hit near Nepal's capital of Kathmandu before noon on Saturday, causing extensive damage with toppled walls and collapsed buildings, officials said.

Nepal's information minister, Minendra Rijal, told India's NDTV station that there are reports of damage in and around Kathmandu but no immediate word on casualties. He said rescue teams were on the scene.

The epicentre was50 miles (80km) north-west of Kathmandu, he said. The Kathmandu valley is densely populated with nearly 2.5 million people, with the quality of buildings often poor.

An Associated Press reporter in Kathmandu said a wall in his compound collapsed and there was damage to nearby buildings.

Time

1. 2015-04-24 13:56:16 (UTC)
2. Times in other timezones

Nearby Cities

1. 182km (113mi) WSW of Bella Bella, Canada
2. 284km (176mi) S of Prince Rupert, Canada
3. 336km (209mi) SSW of Terrace, Canada
4. 430km (267mi) WNW of Campbell River, Canada
5. 641km (398mi) NW of Victoria, Canada

Scientific Data

A major earthquake - the Big One - is statistically almost certain in California in the coming decades, and there is even worse news below the ground: it is likely to be followed by a series of similar-sized temblors, according to a leading seismologist.

The current relatively quiet seismic period - in which "far less" energy is being released in earthquakes than it is being stored from tectonic plate motions "cannot last forever," said University of Southern California earth sciences professor James Dolan while delivering a new paper during the Seismological Society of America conference in Pasadena.

"At some point, we will need to start releasing all of this pent-up energy stored in the rocks in a series of large earthquakes," Dolan stressed.

The earthquake could spark a "super cycle," meaning "a flurry of other Big Ones, as stresses related to the original San Andreas fault earthquake are redistributed on other faults throughout Southern California," he said.