A 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit the Caribbean coast of Honduras this January 9th at 8:51 p.m; the movement was felt in other Central American countries, among them Guatemala, Panama, Belize and El Salvador.

The earthquake’s epicenter was 218.10 km Northeast of Barra Patuca, Honduras, and had a depth of 10 km. Because it occurred in the middle of the ocean it is expected that the movement wasn’t as strong in land.

According to National Seismology Network and the Tsunami Monitoring National System, the earthquake was the result of a strike-slip fault, vertical or nearly vertical fractures where the blocks have mostly moved horizontally; this type of movement usually doesn’t cause tsunamis which are generally caused by an important vertical movement.

Five minutes after the earthquake in Honduras, a 4.8 magnitude earthquake was felt in Costa Rica with epicenter in Bijagua, Upala, Alajuela, which is why many people in Costa Rica related this movement to the previous earthquake in Honduras; both events, however, are unrelated.

There are no reports yet of damages in Honduras.