A 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck off the southern coast of El Salvador late Monday, according to the USGS. The quake was centered about 40 miles to the south of the small coastal town of Intipuca at a depth of about 14 miles. The National Weather Service Pacific Tsunami Warning Center initially said that dangerous tsunami waves were possible within about 185 miles of the epicenter along the coasts of Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador, but said the threat had mostly passed about an hour after the quake was first detected.
The quake was strong enough to cause severe shaking felt by an estimated 1.3 million people, according to the USGS PAGER system, which predicted the quake to cause anywhere from one to 100 fatalities.