CHINANDEGA , Nicaragua, June 10 (UPI) -- An earthquake in Nicaragua forced patients at a damaged hospital to spend the night outdoors and coastal residents to flee out of fear of a tsunami.
The epicenter of the 6.1-magnitude earthquake late Thursday was 16 miles northeast of the city of Chinandega, near the border with Honduras, the U.S. Geological Survey said. Buildings, including a church, were damaged.
Schools have been closed in Leon and Chinandega, Nicaraguan presidential education adviser Salvador Vanegas said.
Patients of a Chinandega hospital spent the night outdoors on gurneys, the newspaper La Prensa reported, adding some residents of the town of Punta Venecia, on the Pacific Ocean, evacuated their homes in the expectation of a tsunami.
