6.3 earthquake shakes Chiriqui

The quake hit 35 miles west southwest of David, Panama, at 1:11 a.m. local time.

The tremor was felt in Costa Rica's capital of San Jose, but that country's emergency commission said there were no reports of damages there.

According to the Quake Network of Geological Science Institute of the University of Panama the epicenter was located 8.35 North, 83 West and happened at a depth of 10 kilometers.

The Civil Protection Service informed that areas affected by the quake were David, Puerto Armuelles, Bugaba, Boqueron, and the highlands such as Baru and Cerro Punto.

In Costa Rica it was felt most in the South Zone, Valle Central, Turrialba, Siquirres and Sarapiqui.

Civil Protection said that at least 14 houses were damaged and one was destroyed by the tremor.

A local resident from the area of La Fortuna, in Gualaca said: “ It was like Superman was shaking our house and we were very scared.”

The regional director of the Civil Protection, Armando Palacios said that the Ministry of Education decided to close the schools in the Baru area.

Strong tremors are not uncommon in Chiriqui. On 25 December 2003 the province was shaken by an earthquake of 6.0 on the Richter scale.

The earthquake of July 8 1934 was 7.7 degrees.

The dormant Baru volcano (Volcan Baru), is close to the epicenter of the quake and in January this year a study published by the Geographical Service of the United States (USGS) confirmed that there is activity inside the sleeping giant and that it is just a question of time until it erupts.

Monitoring units have been set up in nine locations covering the areas of Boquete, Volcan and Cerro Punta which are the zones most likely to be affected in case of increased activity.

The Baru Volcano is in the middle of the most beautiful area of the province of Chiriqui and many foreigners attracted by the cooler climate have bought properties there.

The study said that the volcano will erupt sometime in the future, but nobody knows when.