Wednesday, September 10th, 2008
A 5.6-magnitude earthquake struck south Costa Rica Wednesday morning, the Vulcanology and Seismology Observatory of Costa Rica said.
The earthquake happened at 7:39 local time (1239 GMT) and the epicenter was 420 km south of San Jose, officials said. No casualties have been reported so far.
The epicenter was 15 km underground and the quake was felt at the border with Panama.
The earthquake originated from the Fracture Zone in Panama, where the Coco, the Caribbean and the Nazca Plate meet.
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Wednesday, September 10th, 2008
Riding the crest of a 7:0 victory over Suriname, Costa Rica is hoping Huricane Ike won’t slow it down.
Los Ticos face Haiti in Port-au-Prince on Wednesday in their third match of the semifinal round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying, firmly in control of Group C with six points but now having to recover from their trip to the Caribbean.
Ike delayed both teams’ trip to Haiti, forcing the Costa Ricans to spend Sunday night in Miami while the storm tore through the Caribbean.
“We are fine physically and we handled the schedule change,” striker Alejandro Alpizar said. “The group is in good spirits for this game.”
Froylan Ledezma had two of the goals against Suriname, but will miss Wednesday’s match because of yellow card accumulation, getting his second Saturday for celebrating one of his tallies without his shirt.
Besides its flight problems, Haiti returns home with only one point, having lost 5:0 to El Salvador on Saturday having been outscored 7:2 in its two games so far. Wednesday’s other game has El Salvador travelling to Suriname, looking to consolidate its hold on second place in the group.
El Salvador has three points while Suriname is last with one point. Two teams advance to the final round of qualifying.
Haiti was hampered Saturday by the 17th-minute ejection of Pierre Bruny and collapsed by allowing three second-half goals.
Wagneau Eloi’s side will have to regroup and be more disciplined if it hopes to have any shot at a win against the group leader.
A return home to Paramaribo may be what Suriname needs, along with more production from Clifton Sandvliet and Wensley Christoph, who were non-factors against the Salvadorans.
Another loss by either Haiti and Suriname will put them in a huge hole before Group C play goes on hiatus for one month. Wins by both, however, would make the race for the top two spots wide open heading into the final three matches.
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