Quepos Earthquake
 

Little damage reported as earthquake hits Central America



August 20, 1999
Web posted at: 12:13 p.m. EDT (1613 GMT)


SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (CNN) -- A strong earthquake hit Central America on Friday morning, but no injuries were reported, and little damage resulted.

Costa Rican scientists estimated the earthquake's magnitude at 5.3, while U.S. researchers assigned it a 6.7 rating. It hit about 4:02 a.m. (6:02 a.m. EDT).

"Thank God, everything is normal," said Manuel Aguilar, of Costa Rica's Comision de Emergencia in San Jose. "Everyone is working normally. Absolutely nothing happened to us."

The temblor was centered near Quepos, a largely rural tourist center about 83 kilometers (52 miles) south of the capital, said Rodolfo Van derLaat, a researcher at Costa Rica's National University.

"It was very strong, lasting 20 to 30 seconds," he said. "So far, the worst damage is fallen objects."

Scientists' readings differed depending on their location, said Don Blakeman, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Golden, Colorado. The USGS measured the quake at 6.7 and placed its epicenter about 55 miles (90 km) south of San Jose.

Blakeman said the earthquake may not have radiated equally in all directions, resulting in different measurements by the two groups.

The Costa Rican quake came three days after a quake measured at magnitude 7.4 killed more than 10,000 people in Turkey.

This is info on a 1999 earthquake in Quepos. The one November 20 was a 6.2 and did in fact do damage.

Wow, you are right! I did a search on CNN for this info and posted what came up - stupid me!

We fly out to Costa Rica tomorrow night for 7 days. Anyone know where I can get more info about the earthquake? Should I worry about the damage done? Will this affect our trip in anyway? We are renting a car "NEXT" Saturday and driving from San Jose to Quepos; other than that, we will be taking buses, etc.

THANKS!!!

jpitchford,
Lisa in Manuel Antonio (who posts here frequently) says everything is up and running including the road from SJ to Quepos. She would know. Also, news reports I've read this weekend sound like you've got a green light. I'm sure everything will be fine. If Wolfiesmom reports in this week (she was there during the quake, but in Guanacaste), perhaps she'll have an interesting story and more information!

All of the Costa Ricans will be wanting to talk about the earthquake with you! I'm sure it's been a lot of excitement for them. I was there a couple of years ago during a lesser quake (epicenter out in the Pacific--didn't feel a thing), and everyone was quite excited!

dncee11--I had to smile when I read your post. Nothing like goofing here on Fodor's for everyone to see--especially when people only see your mistakes and don't get a chance to observe all the good qualities! :)

I almost posted back and corrected my own espanol the other day when I posted "me no gusta"--when I should have said "no me gusta"! By the way, speaking of espanol, I think I've gotten a clear picture this week of hubiera and haya. Those guys have been bothering me for awhile. And my Mexican tutor gave me a little lesson the other day on the many uses of acaba! Hope you and the family are well. Happy thanksgiving! Does Nancy get 3 days off this week?

Today's edition (11/22/04) of AM Costa Rica http://www.amcostarica.com/ has information on conditions. Under the "School Closed" article, several paragraphs related to road conditions and tourism. In a nutshell for this area, road repairs have already begun and very little tourism related damage. Safe travels to all!

Lisa

I'm glad that reports so far seem to be saying that things are pretty much normal after the quake-- but I do think it's important for folks to take such news with a grain of salt. I guess it all depends on what's "ok" by each person's lights. I'm mentioning this because a couple of years ago (actually this happened twice to us over the decades), we had reservations in the Caribbean some months after hurricanes. Some resorts were obliged to close for repairs, others stayed open and insisted that everything was fine. But our vacation both times was not pleasant-- the vegetation was so altered, the beaches altered, even the snorkeling reefs were changed, that the vacation was nothing like what it should have been: we were sorry we hadn't canceled and reschedule for another year.
In short, it seems to me not possible that things are quite ok in CR. The country doesn't want to lose tourism, so they will underplay damage/changes (as Florida, where I live, did after recent hurricanes). In short, if visiting CR under "reduced" circumstances doesn't awfully much matter (as it wouldn't to many folks), then it's probably safe to go (if the water situation is ok). But some people may want to wait until another time to visit. It would be great if the various hotels, etc. had the integrity to report 100% honestly about whatever changes have occurred, but the world isn't usually that honest. Anyway, I'm awfully glad that there wasn't more loss of life and damage than there was; my good wishes are with anyone who has suffered even slightly because of the quake. Our kids live in California-- those things are terribly scary!

I was in the earthquake and I am a tourist. It is fine, it just shook things up and there are still minor aftershocks happening. You may hear the dogs barking a bit more and the roosters crowing a bit more as they feel the slightest move. It scared me to death but I am fine. Go and have a great time!

It absolutely did not "just shake things up." There was structural damage to many roads and buildings. In fact, it takes a while even to assess damage on bridges, roads, etc, much less correct what needs correcting. If it takes California (e.g) many weeks and months to be "whole" again, it is naive to believe that CR can be perfectly ok in a matter of days. Again-- I am so glad that damage isn't worse than it was-- but integrity and good sense should not be mortgaged.

Lisa? :)

Lisa thanks for posting that link to th article, sounds like things are going well & nothing was damaged too drastically. Interesting that the island offshore got the heavist damage.

I'm curious....I wonder if there was any noticeable reaction from the animals in the hours leading up to the quake? I used to live in C.A. & twice I found my cat hiding in strange places right before a quake.

Any more news you can report would be greatly appreciated Lisa. How did the hotels in MA fare? Hope everyone is well, I know it's a scary thing when the ground starts rocking!

Lisa is wonderfully helpful in a hundred ways and obviously very generous with her time-- but she is not a civil engineer. Hotels in MA, if they are like hotels pretty much everywhere, will minimize the extent of their damage in order not to lose business. It is very very rare for a hotel or whatever to acknowledge forthrightly that one's visit might be compromised. I've heard that kind of super-honorable response on occasion-- but it's not the rule (anywhere in the world).

How do we KNOW she's not a civil engineer?! She MIGHT be! :)
Sorry, guys, couldn't resist. . . .

Poss is correct! I’ve been a Domestic Engineer and Culinary Engineer but never a Civil Engineer! But seriously, Poss makes a valid point. I don’t know what the future holds as far as damage assessment. It may be days, months or years. As previously stated, continuing or cancelling a vacation is very much a personal matter. I simply wanted to alleviate fears that after the quake occurred power, water and traffic flow has resumed to normal conditions. It surely would be disappointing to finally get to M. Antonio and find all the restaurants closed or an area in a state of chaos. Actually, I should not use the word "normal"! Even before the quake, nothing runs normally ... for no apparent reason the power goes off for one minute at least once a week, Sansa and NatureAir planes are delayed and the Cable TV just stops working. All in the way of life here!

I would like to report that the good folks at La Mansion in Manuel Antonio have alot of damage. They posted pics this a.m. on this site. http://www.etntalk.com/manews/earthq...a_mansion_inn/

I'll keep posting if I hear of any other damage.

tully: It’s interesting you bring up the animal(s) situation. Immediately before the earthquake struck, I was awakened to the sound of animals on the roof of the house. Just causing an absolute racket! I thought, how the HECK am I going to get back to sleep with all this going on! No less than 15 minutes later, any thought of returning to sleep was a thing of the past as the quake hit.

A few of the homes (but certainly not all) on Isla Damas were of marginal quality so I'm guessing this accounted for the high degree of problems unfortuantely.

Lisa

Thanks again Lisa for your reports! Poor Mariposa but I'm sure they will up & running back to "normal" very quickly. Read an AP report that mostly all electric & phone service was up & running & all roads were open, so that is good news knowing that CR depends so much on tourism. Interesting about the animals on your roof - I swear they know these things are coming! Thanks for keeping us updated.

Wow ! We walked by La Mansion quite a bit last week , they were actually doing lots of construction . Looks like a bit more will be in the works , no pun intended . The photos certainly give a better idea of the force of an earthquake . Thanx Lisa ! Faith

The fotos are amazing. Even "slight" damage (compared to what could have been) is impressive.

Oh ! I forgot to mention Lisa that that site in general is quite interesting . Another new place for me to read about Costa Rica and wish I were back there . I especially got a kick over the Banana Tree Hotel thread and the Canadians who eat too much !!! It actually had me thinking , Hmmmm.... did the waiters at Costa Verde think I ate too much ? I AM Canadian after all !!!! LOL , Faith !

I was in Quepos for my honeymoon during the earthquake - at Tulemar Bungalows. The roads are fine pretty much for the most part - I drove from Quepos to Arenal the next day. The strogage tanks at the palm oil plant outside of town were wiped out though! I'll get into more details about the quake in my trip report that I am working on now. In the meantime, If you have any questions I will be glad to try to answer them.

I just returned from Heradurra (Los Suenos Marriott) where we had arrived Friday night (11/19), just in time to experience the major jolt. To give you some idea, this was fairly close to the Quepos area (~35-45 miles).Having lived in the Los Angeles area for ~ 7 years during 2 sizeable earthquakes, I must say this one was the strongest ever felt (unbelievably my seven year old daughter slept through it)! With that said, the resort we stayed at incurred no damage. We drove a couple of days later to MA and had VIRTUALLY NO PROBLEM getting there although we did see major cracks in the road around the Parrita area which is just outside Quepos. I can assure you that the country is up and running w/o any major problems.

I chalked the quake up to part of the adventure of the trip and would not hesitate on returning to CR.