HONDURAS: Residents try to resume life after big quake off Honduras kills six and crumbles houses

Record ID: 736269

  • Title: HONDURAS: Residents try to resume life after big quake off Honduras kills six and crumbles houses
  • Date: 30th May 2009
  • Summary: PROGRESO, HONDURAS (MAY 29, 2009) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF BRIDGE WHICH COLLAPSED DURING EARTHQUAKE PEOPLE LOOKING AT REMAINS OF BRIDGE IN RIVER AREA CORDONED OFF AROUND BRIDGE VARIOUS OF FALLEN BRIDGE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) POLICEMAN, JORGE ALBERTO CRUZ, SAYING: "Well, apparently the bridge collapsed because of the earthquake. It was one of the access routes that connec
  • Embargoed: 14th June 2009 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Honduras
  • Country: Honduras
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes
  • Reuters ID: LVA1O832SN0Z51QFQZNU9XFNR44
  • Story Text: Residents tried to get back to normal life in Honduras on Friday (May 29) one day after a powerful 7.1 magnitude earthquake shook the country on Thursday (May 28), killing at least six people, knocking down flimsy homes and causing damage in neighboring Guatemala.
    The offshore quake destroyed some 60 houses and damaged scores of other buildings across the north of Honduras, a poor country of 7 million people, and briefly triggered a tsunami alert for Central America's Caribbean coast.
    Emergency services officials said six people died and at least 25 were injured in the earthquake but the toll could rise as reports come in from poor villages in the mountainous area along the coast.
    Honduran President Manuel Zelaya told local radio said the damage was minor considering the earthquake's strength. Venezuela was sending aid to rebuild 120 homes, he said.
    In Progreso, a bridge collapsed.
    Shocked residents looked on as bridge remains fell into the river below. The area was cordoned off and another nearly bridge was opened in both directions to allow traffic to flow.
    "Well, apparently the bridge collapsed because of the earthquake. It was one of the access routes that connected Progreso to San Pedro Sula. That is why there is only one bridge open which is being used in two directions," policeman, Jorge Alberto Cruz, told Reuters Television.
    Resident, Arlex Lopez, said he had been shocked by what he had seen.
    "I don't know how to say this, I've never seen such a disaster. It's ugly," he said.
    In San Pedro Sula, the Olympic Stadium was damaged.
    A girl was being treated at the local hospital for injuries sustained during the earthquake in Progreso.
    "The girl (who was injured) is called Cynthia Paola Garcia from Progreso. She suffered from multiple trauma but most of it was in the thorax and abdomen on her right side. She suffered from intestinal injury and also injured her kidney for which she had to have surgery," said doctor Juan Carlos Murillo.
    Four children, aged 3 to 15, died when their homes collapsed after the quake struck in the early hours of the morning near the resort island of Roatan.
    The earthquake hit 39 miles (64 km) northeast of Roatan, the biggest of the country's three picturesque Bay Islands, where snorkelers and divers come to see dolphins and a big coral reef. It had a relatively shallow depth of 6.2 miles (10 km). Earthquakes that close to the earth's surface are often more powerful than deeper tremors.
    On Roatan, rescue officials said the quake had knocked out power and caused minor damage to buildings.
    Houses also collapsed in Puerto Cortes and Santa Barbara, where the ceiling of a colonial church caved in, while fires broke out in the northern business city of San Pedro Sula.
    The tremor sent people running into the street and the power was cut in some areas.
    Foreign ministers from throughout the Americas, including U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, are to meet in Honduras' No. 2 city, San Pedro Sula, next week at a gathering of the Organization of American States.
    A State Department spokesman said Clinton still planned to attend the OAS meeting and added that the United States was ready to assist Honduras with relief efforts if asked.
    Honduras has a small tourist industry with most visitors attracted to its Bay Islands off the world's second-largest coral reef that teems with fish, rays and turtles.
    The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami watch for Honduras, Guatemala and Belize, but lifted it half an hour later.
    The quake knocked out electricity in two towns in eastern Guatemala and damaged roads isolated another town in the area.
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