Strong quake rocks Honduras

TEGUCIGALPA - A strong quake measuring at least 7.1 on the Richter scale struck offshore from the Central American country of Honduras early Thursday.

The quake set off a tsunami alert in the Caribbean, but appeared to have caused no serious injuries or large-scale damage, the police said.

US seismology officials put the strength of the quake at 7.1, but the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said it measured 7.3.

A house was reported to have collapsed in the department of Santa Barbara near the Guatemalan border, police spokesman Hector Ivan Mejia said.

Marcos Burgos of the Honduran civil defence agency confirmed that the quake only appeared to have caused minor damage.

Police nevertheless sounded a national alert.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre issued a warning to Honduras, Belize, Guatemala and other Caribbean areas except for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

However, only government agencies had the authority to take decisions on official alerts, the centre said.

The 30-second quake was caused by a collision between the Caribbean and North American plates, said seismography expert Gonzalo Cruz from the Honduras National Autonomous University.

US seismology officials said the quake struck at a depth of 10 km and some 320 km northeast of the capital Tegucigalpa.