SAN SALVADOR – A magnitude-6 earthquake rocked El Salvador on Thursday, but no injuries or damage have been reported, the National Territorial Studies Service, or SNET, said.

The earthquake, which hit at 1:08 p.m., caused panic in several sections of the capital.

The temblor occurred 60 kilometers (37 miles) off the country’s southern coast between the border of Guatemala and El Salvador, a SNET spokesman told Efe.

The quake lasted for 25 seconds in San Salvador, the Central American country’s capital, the SNET spokesman said.

The earthquake’s epicenter was located at a depth of 19 kilometers (12 miles).

The temblor was caused by a shift in the Cocos and Caribbean plates, SNET said.

Officials are “monitoring the 14 provinces,” but there have not been any reports of injuries or incidents related to the quake, a national emergency management office spokesman told Efe.

The earthquake was felt strongly in central and western El Salvador, but it was barely felt in the eastern region, Radio El Salvador reported.

Officials in the central province of San Vicente, one of the regions most affected by the Nov. 7-8 torrential rains that left at least 198 dead and caused extensive damage, told Radio El Salvador that there was no damage to shelters or other structures.

People went into the streets in San Salvador during the earthquake to avoid being inside buildings and houses that might collapse.

Earthquakes on Jan. 13, 2001, and Feb. 13, 2001, killed 1,500 people, injured 8,000 others and left an estimated 1.5 million people homeless or with property damage in El Salvador. EFE