By Gustavo Palencia
TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - A powerful 7.1 magnitude earthquake shook Honduras in the early hours of Thursday, killing a teenage boy as it knocked down homes and briefly sparking a tsunami alert for Central America's Caribbean coast.
The quake struck off Honduras' northeast coast near the scuba-diving resort island of Roatan and damaged buildings across the north of the largely impoverished country of some 7 million people.
Emergency services officials said a 15-year-old boy died in the town of La Lima, about 100 miles (160 km) north of the capital Tegucigalpa, when the ceiling of his house collapsed.
Honduras has few high-rise buildings but several places reported collapsed homes and damaged churches.
The earthquake struck at 2:24 a.m. local time (9:24 a.m. British time) when most people were asleep.
Security guard Pedro Ramirez, 52, was in his truck outside an office building in Tegucigalpa when the tremor hit.
"I felt the car rock and I started to hear little bits of debris from the building next door hitting the roof," he said. "It was frightening because it was shaking a lot. I've never felt anything like it."
The earthquake hit 39 miles (64 km) northeast of Roatan, the biggest of the country's three picturesque Bay Islands where snorkelers and divers come to see dolphins and a big coral reef. It had a shallow depth of 6.2 miles (10 km).
A 7.1 magnitude quake can cause serious damage over a wide area. Thursday's tremor followed two moderate quakes in nearby Mexico in the past few weeks.
On Roatan, rescue officials said the quake had knocked out power and caused minor damage to buildings. People were outside their houses and being urged to keep away from the shore.
A tsunami watch was issued for Honduras, Guatemala and Belize, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said, but it was lifted about an hour later.
In the town of Santa Barbara, in northwest Honduras, a handful of houses collapsed and the ceiling of an old colonial church fell in. The tremor sent people running into the street and the power was cut in some areas, Honduran radio said.
Houses also fell down in the port of Puerto Cortes while fires broke out in the northern business city of San Pedro Sula. A bridge collapsed in the city of El Progreso and televisions crashed to the floor in homes in La Lima, officials said.
The quake was initially reported having a 7.4 magnitude.
Honduras has a limited tourist industry with most visitors attracted to its Bay islands off the world's second-largest coral reef that teems with fish, sponges, rays and turtles.
(Additional reporting by Cyntia Barrera Diaz and Philip Barbara; Writing by Catherine Bremer; Editing by Bill Trott)
