GUATEMALA CITY – Two people lost their lives when their vehicle was buried under a landslide triggered by a series of earthquakes in Guatemala Tuesday.
According to local authorities Wednesday, a swarm of tremors up to 5.6 magnitude rattled the country on Tuesday afternoon, centered near the towns of Amatitlan and Alotenango southwest of the capital, seismological services said.
“Unfortunately, human fatalities are confirmed” due to a landslide after rocks and earth buried a vehicle on a highway, said Andres Erazo, a spokesman for disaster coordination agency Conred.The quakes were also felt in neighboring El Salvador.
The landslide occurred on a road southwest of the capital near the city of Antigua Guatemala in the central highlands.
The tremors forced dozens to evacuate buildings in Guatemala City where anti-earthquake alarms sounded.Central America often experiences tremors due to the shifting Caribbean and Cocos tectonic plates.
