UN is monitoring the earthquake in Costa Rica: spokesperson

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- The UN humanitarian agency is keeping a close watch on the earthquake in Costa Rica, a UN spokesman told reporters here Wednesday.

"The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is following reports of the earthquake in Costa Rica," Martin Nesirky, spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, said at the daily briefing.

OCHA is in touch with the UN Resident Coordinator's office in the country, he said.

A 7.6-magnitude earthquake jolted the western coast of Costa Rica on Wednesday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The quake, which occurred at 8:42 local time (1442 GMT), was centered about 8 km northeast of Samara, Costa Rica, and 151 km west of San Jose, the capital, said the USGS.

Nesirky quoted OCHA as saying that there is no major damage in San Jose.

But OCHA understands that the National Emergency Commission ( NEC) of Costa Rica was evacuated from its building and is waiting to be let in again, said the spokesman.

"For the time being, there has been no request for assistance," he added. Enditem

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