Magnitude 6.0 earthquake strikes off El Salvador coast
A large earthquake has struck in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of El Salvador and Guatemala.
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The magnitude 6.0 tremor occurred at 4:14am local time, according to a US Geological Survey report. The quake was recorded at a shallow depth of about 10 kilometres (6 miles).
Its epicentre was 81 kilometres (about 50 miles) southwest of Acajutla, El Salvador, and around 107 kilometres (66miles) south-east of Puerto San Jose, Guatemala.
There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.
Acajutla is El Salvador's primary commercial port, and is also used by cruise ships. Puerto San Jose is the largest town on Guatemala's Pacific coast.
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The quake comes only weeks after the sixth most severe earthquake in recorded history struck off the far east coast of Kamchatka in Russia. The earthquake, which took place on July 30, damaged buildings and injured several people in the remote Russian region.
As a consequence of its massive magnitude, the earthquake also triggered tsunami waves towards Japan, Hawaii and the US west coast.
More than two million people across the Pacific were ordered to evacuate, with numerous other countries also issuing alerts.
