Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Ryan Merrifield

Guatemala earthquake: Buildings reduced to rubble as massive 6-magnitude tremor hits

A major earthquake measuring 6.2 in magnitude has struck Guatemala reducing buildings to rubble.

The quake hit the Central American nation on Wednesday morning, with the epicentre in Nueva Concepción, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said.

It was at a depth of 96 km (60 miles), EMSC said.

The initial tremor was felt at 1.12am local time, before two aftershocks followed at 1.50am and 1.56am, measuring 5 and 4.8, according to reports.

An image of a car having been crushed by falling debris from a collapsing building was taken in Totonicapán city this morning.

While other snaps show rocks having fallen across a road and emergency workers digging through rubble.

Other countries to feel the force were El Salvador and Mexico.

Have you been affected the earthquake? Let us know at webnews@mirror.co.uk

A landslide along a main road in Guatemala (Twitter)

It comes after a so-called earthquake swarm hit Guatemala nation on Sunday, with 15 tremors felt in 24 hours, according to the INSIVUMEH.

They measured between 3.2 and 5 on the Richter scale.

The National Co-ordinator for Disaster Reduction later confirmed there had been no injuries or infrastructure damage.

Emergency teams work through rubble (Twitter)

The swarm struck off the coast of Retalhuleu.

Prior to that, there is understood to have been 15 minor quakes last week in the Pacific Ocean and the coasts of Mexico, El Salvador and Santa Rosa.

Guatemala is exposed to these kinds of natural phenomena due to its location at the convergence of the Caribbean, Cocos and North American tectonic plates, as well as local geological faults.

The earthquake came of a swarm of quakes over the weekend (Twitter)

Another 5.1 magnitude earthquake struck the popular tourist islands of Madeira this morning.

That quake was at a depth of 30 km (18.64 miles), EMSC said and struck near Funchal, on Madeira, part of Portugal.

Many people have reported the terrifying experience of rooms rocking due to the force of the earthquake.

One person tweeted: "I was in my bed and damn it... it was scary. The bed shook all over."

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.