Major Quake Strikes Costa Rica, Panama : Disaster: Six reported killed by 7.4 temblor. Buildings are toppled in port city.

A powerful earthquake rolled through Costa Rica and Panama on Monday, killing at least four people and toppling buildings in the Atlantic coastal city of Puerto Limon, Costa Rica.

Two more people were killed in western Panama, according to a radio station.

The quake and a series of powerful aftershocks caused extensive damage to buildings in San Jose, the Costa Rican capital, knocking out electrical service and phone lines, cracking walls and shattering windows.

The quake had a magnitude of 7.4 and was centered 70 miles southeast of San Jose, said Willis Jacobs of the National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colo.

Puerto Limon, Costa Rica’s main Atlantic port, about 80 miles east of San Jose, appeared to be the hardest hit by the quake and aftershocks beginning at 3:58 p.m. local time (2:58 PDT). At least three people were killed when the International Hotel collapsed in Puerto Limon, Red Cross spokesman Jose Manuel Calvo said in San Jose.

Carlos Garza, a resident, said in telephone interview from Puerto Limon that he saw at least one other body as a result of the earthquake.

“I saw at least 40 to 50 homes destroyed and one person dead, with great damage to the railway line. There is no electricity nor running water,” Garza said.

A factory was set ablaze in Puerto Limon, apparently by an electrical short circuit, a fire department spokesman there said in an interview with Radio Monumental.

Residents of Panama’s western provinces of Bocas del Toro and Chiriqui said a number of buildings collapsed or were damaged.

Joel Rincon, a correspondent for the private KW Continente radio chain, said many buildings were damaged in Chiriqui and panicky people ran into the streets.

Two people were killed in the neighboring province of Boca del Toro, where homes collapsed, Rincon said.

San Jose residents fled to the streets for safety when the 15-second quake rolled through the capital, but there were no early reports of deaths. Traffic snarled as traffic lights went out. The Red Cross appealed to motorists to drive carefully and to look out for downed power lines.

In the capital, the National Theater and the Culture Building, which houses a gold artifact museum, and a three-story folk art museum were all severely damaged, Duarte said.

Every single window pane was smashed in the five-story, concrete-and-glass Volkswagen building on the north side of the city.