(CNN) — An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.9 struck off the coast of Costa Rica Wednesday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
USGS recently reduced the magnitude to 7.6.
The quake was recorded on the Costa Rican Pacific coast, about 95 miles west of the capital, San Jose, and ran more than 28 miles deep.
The epicenter was just five miles away from the city of Samara.
A tsunami watch was in effect for much of the Caribbean, including along the coastlines of Brazil, Mexico, most countries in Central America and many islands.
That watch was cancelled just after 11 a.m. EDT.
“Earthquakes of this size have the potential to generate a widespread destructive tsunami that can affect coastlines across the Caribbean region,” the U.S. government said.
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