Tsunami warnings were issued for Costa Rica and nearby countries following a powerful, 7.6 magnitude earthquake Wednesday morning. The U.S. Geological Survey initially reported a 7.9 magnitude tremor struck in the Pacific Ocean about 7 miles southeast of the Nicoya, Costa Rica. The magnitude was downgraded to 7.6. Tsunami warnings were issued by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center for Costa Rica, Panama and Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala and Peru. The center later lifted the warnings for El Salvador, Honduras, Mexcio, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala and Peru.
"It is not known that a tsunami was generated. This warning is based only on the earthquake evaluation. An earthquake of this size has the potential to generate a destructive tsunami that can strike coastlines near the epicenter within minutes and more distant coastlines within hours," the center said in a statement.
The earthquake struck at 10:42 ET at a depth of about 28 miles. The epicenter was located about 87 miles west of San Jose, the capital. There were no immediate reports of major damages, injuries or deaths. Power outages have been reported in some areas of San Jose.
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