6.8-Magnitude Earthquake Shakes Coasts of Central America

A 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck the coasts of El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua in Central America, on Tuesday, according to local time, but no immediate damage was reported, according to El Salvadoran authorities.

The US Geological Survey recorded the earthquake at 6:22 pm, 02:22 GMT, in the Pacific Ocean, about 66 km south of the coast of El Salvador, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The American agency had announced earlier that the magnitude of the earthquake amounted to 6.5 degrees, while the Salvadoran Ministry of Environment returned and updated its data to read the Richter scale to 6.8 degrees.

"Based on the data reviewed, there is still no risk of a tsunami in El Salvador," the Salvadoran Environment Ministry wrote on Twitter, according to AFP.

In Honduras, the permanent emergency warning coordinator Juan Jose Reyes told reporters that the quake was felt by all residents "all over the country", especially near the Bay of Fonseca shared with El Salvador and Nicaragua.