BREAKING NEWS 7.0-Magnitude Earthquake Hits off West Coast of Nicaragua

BREAKING NEWS 7.0-Magnitude Earthquake Hits off West Coast of Nicaragua – A 7.0-magnitude earthquake has been reported off the west coast of Nicaragua in Central America, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The earthquake comes less than an hour after the eye of powerful Hurricane Otto slammed into the east coast of southern Nicaragua.

Hurricane Otto made landfall as a dangerous Category 2 hurricane on a sparsely populated stretch of Caribbean coast in Nicaragua today, becoming the southernmost hurricane on record to hit Central America. Heavy rains from the storm have already been blamed for three deaths in Panama.

The storm has been downgraded and now Tropical Storm Otto is now pulling away from Nicaragua and Costa Rica in the eastern Pacific Ocean, but could still produce heavy rain Friday that could cause life-threatening flooding and mudslides.

Otto made landfall just before 1 p.m. EST Thursday as a hurricane near the town of San Juan de Nicaragua in southern Nicaragua.