Around 1:30 pm yesterday while I was having lunch a very strong earthquake was felt but at the moment I thought it was nothing to be worried about, that was only because I am in Guanacaste and the it is quite far away from the epicenter which was located near the Poas volcano in Alajuela. Costa Rica earthquakes are common but what was felt yesterday afternoon was in fact a huge one that caused a red alert in San Jose, Heredia, Cartago and Alajuela.
At the moment the Costa Rica earthquake has caused the loss of many homes, at least 15 people died and many injured and while the rescue workers still work on the area it is known that many people are still trapped underneath avalanches and incommunicado. In San Jose many buildings were evacuated and there were a few with cracks on the walls, In Alajuela, especially in the Vara Blanca area most people have lost their homes completely and some are still missing.
At the moment in Costa Rica, rescuers are still trying to find people, help the ones that are injured and probably later on this afternoon they will send a press release with the total losses and what kind of help will be necessary to get things back to normal. Stadiums have been open to be used as Heliports and all the hospitals in Costa Rica are ready to provide as much as assistance as possible.
Since it was not felt so hard in Guanacaste, I was definitely not aware of the huge damages caused by this Earthquake in Costa Rica, one of the most beautiful places I have visited: The Waterfall Gardens in Poas is completely damaged and the hotel itself is being used as one of the headquarters to help the people of the area.
Around 1:30 pm yesterday while I was having lunch a very strong earthquake was felt but at the moment I thought it was nothing to be worried about, that was only because I am in Guanacaste and the it is quite far away from the epicenter which was located near the Poas volcano in Alajuela.