Headed for Higher Ground: Families in the Pacific port city of Puntarenas prepared to evacuate their homes Wednesday night after word got out that a tsunami was threatening to hit Costa Rica's Pacific coast. Authorities later called off the warning after danger subsided.

An earthquake measuring 4.7 on the Richter scale rocked the Southern Zone yesterday at 12:06 p.m., according to a statement from the Volcanological and Seismological Observatory of Costa Rica (OVSICORI), based at Universidad Nacional (UNA) in Heredia, north of San José.

Events in Jacó
Surf tournament, today through Sunday, in front of the Best Western Hotel; Abracadabra Concert, tomorrow, 7:30 p.m., Best Western Hotel. Info: 296-9596, 219-6344.

National Symphony Choir Auditions
Singers must be 18-40 years old, no musical instruction needed, only good voice range and tune and availability to rehearse three times a week, 6 p.m., Moravia, Los Colegios, 100 meters west, 100 meters south and 100 meters west of former Lincoln School. Info: 236-1682. 

BB Zúñiga Performs
Father Rooster, Playa Ocotal, 6 p.m.

Pasiontango
Tango show, performed by Fantasía de Tango Company, 8 p.m., Teatro de la Danza, National Culture Center (CENAC), San José. Info: 827-4518.

Costa Rican Night
With dance, calypso, mascarades, 6:15 p.m., Teatro de Bomberos, Pueblo Antiguo, Parque de Diversiones, La Uruca, northwest San José.

Free Concert
Credomatic Music Festival featuring a free concert by the Vienna Boys Choir, 11 a.m., La Soledad Church, San José.

Melissa Tenorio in Concert
Rock/pop, 8 p.m., Cuartel de la Boca del Monte, Barrio La California. Info: 221-0327.

Tico Times Staff | editorial@ticotimes.net

A tsunami that never happened was all the buzz in Costa Rica yesterday after a false alarm rattled the Pacific coast Wednesday night.

An earthquake in Peru measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale earlier that day led the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Pacific Tsunami Warning Center to issue a tsunami alert for the entire Pacific coast of South and Central America.

Costa Rica's National Emergency Commission (CNE) got the word out via radio and TV news that those within 500 meters of the coast should head inland since the tsunami, or tidal wave, was likely to hit at 9:30 p.m.

Less than two hours later, word trickled through the country that it was a false alarm. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center cancelled all warnings, but continued to monitor sea levels “just in case anything developed,” said the center's oceanographer Dailin Wang.

By that time, beach communities along the coast had already emptied – causing traffic snarls, panic, and frantic news reports.

Conflicting reports were out yesterday as far as how the country fared in its response to the disaster.  

National Emergency Commission (CNE) President Daniel Gallardo said that overall, the country earned high marks for its performance.

“We're very happy with the country's response... people calmly moved away from the coast,” he said, praising the media's work alerting the population and the Red Cross' and Firefighters Corps' helping people evacuate.

But Guillermo Quirós, director of the Coastal Institute and a tsunami expert in Heredía, north of San José, wasn't so sure.

He and other tsunami experts feel much work is needed before Costa Rica can get accurate information to the public during tsunami situations. They're hoping this trial run will spur the country into action to better prepare for the real thing.

See today's print or electronic edition of The Tico Times for more on this story.

Costa Rican music legend Ray Tico passed away Wednesday night at age 79 hugging his guitar, and national musicians are planning to pay him tribute this weekend with their songs.

A wake will be held all day Friday at Funerario del Recuerdo in San José's Barrio Don Bosco, leading up to a mass at the funeral home's chapel at 4 p.m. His ashes will then be returned to his birthplace, the Caribbean port city of Limón, Sunday, where a ceremony will be held to scatter them, according to a statement from Papaya Music. The time of this ceremony is yet to be confirmed; for more information, call 524-0728.

Musicians are invited to share in this experience “as Ray would have wanted” by bringing their instruments to play.

Ramón Jacinto, who later became Ray Tico, grew up in the 1930s in Limón, according to the daily La Nación.

He learned how to play the guitar on his own and frequently headed out to sing to tourists who came to the city on cruise ships.

He came to San José at age 14 to sing on radio programs, which helped him launch his career, and later traveled to Cuba, reinventing himself as Ray Tico.

During his successful career, he befriended other Latin American music stars of the day, including Mexico's Pedro Infante.

His voice was captured on just two records, the first of which was recorded in 1981 by MarMusic Records along with Quincho Prado on flute and the second of which was recorded in 1990 by Papaya Music.

-Tico Times

An earthquake measuring 4.7 on the Richter scale rocked the Southern Zone yesterday at 12:06 p.m., according to a statement from the Volcanological and Seismological Observatory of Costa Rica (OVSICORI), based at Universidad Nacional (UNA) in Heredia, north of San José.

It originated 20 kilometers northeast of the town of San Vito, 25 meters below the earth's surface. Residents around the Southern Zone reported feeling the earth shake.