I miss this small and unknown country which has been transformed from a military dictatorship into a democratic republic--finito, basta with the Banana Republic. Lots of thoughts of there, beach, Mayan ruins of Copan, people and true bananas.

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BBC: last updated at 17:33 GMT, Thursday, 28 May 2009 18:33 UK

Major quake strikes off Honduras

A bridge across a major river collapsed in El Progreso
A powerful earthquake has struck off the coast of Honduras, killing five people and causing widespread damage.

The earthquake hit 64km (39 miles) north-east of Roatan, one of Honduras's Isles de la Bahia in the Caribbean Sea, in the early hours of Thursday.

Tremors were felt in dozens of cities across the region and as far north as Cancun in Mexico.

A tsunami watch was put in place for Guatemala, Belize and Honduras but was called off after the danger passed.

The 7.1 magnitude quake struck at 0324 local time (0824 GMT) at a relatively shallow depth of 10km (six miles), according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).

People in Guatemala City ran into the streets in their pyjamas during the 30-second tremor, news agencies reported. Similar scenes were witnessed in Honduras.

House collapse

Among the dead was a 15-year-old boy who was killed when a house collapsed in Pineda de la Lima, north of the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa, said national fire chief Col Carlos Cordero.



A bridge across a major river collapsed in El Progreso
A six-year-old girl was also killed when a wall in her house fell on her in the beach town of Morazan, Col Cordero said.

He added that a bridge which spans the country's largest river, the Ulua, had collapsed in El Progreso in the north-west.

Carlos Gonzalez, deputy director of Honduras's Permanent Emergency Commission, said at least 24 houses had collapsed along the country's Caribbean coast.

He said dozens of workers had been evacuated from factories in the north-western city of San Pedro Sula because buildings had been badly damaged.

Raul Gonzalez, a hotel receptionist in San Pedro Sula, said he ran out of the building when the earthquake struck.

"I kept going for about a block before I looked back and everything had calmed," he said. "It was really strong. I have never felt anything like that."


Your accounts of the earthquake

Rescue officials on Roatan - a resort island popular with scuba divers and snorkelers - said the quake had knocked out power and caused minor damage to buildings.

People were outside their homes and being urged to keep away from the shore, Reuters news agency reports.

The Pacific Warning Center in Hawaii discontinued its tsunami alert after 90 minutes, saying the danger of a major tsunami hitting the coastlines of nearby countries had now passed.

But it warned that boats and coastal structures could still be affected by rapid currents caused by the quake.