( CNN ) -- Costa Rican officials surveyed damage Wednesday after a major earthquake rattled the country 's northwest coast . The 7.6-magnitude quake was `` one of the strongest earthquakes '' ever to hit the Central American nation , President Laura Chinchilla said . The president praised residents ' response , saying there were no reports of major physical damage from the quake . `` Costa Ricans knew how to react , '' she said . The quake struck Costa Rica 's Nicoya Peninsula Wednesday morning , on the Pacific coast about 87 miles west of the capital , San Jose . It was centered more than 28 miles deep . Schools in the hardest hit areas will be closed Thursday and Friday while engineers inspect buildings for damage , Chinchilla said . Officials gave conflicting reports about whether anyone had been killed . Late Wednesday Chinchilla said there were `` no human losses , '' but earlier emergency officials said at least one person had died from a heart attack suffered during the quake . `` It started out pretty mild , but then it really got going , '' said Bill Root , owner of a hotel in Samara , also near the epicenter . `` It was a very strong earthquake . Everything was falling off the shelves and the ground was rolling . '' Costa Rica 's National Emergency Commission reported debris on roads , electrical outages and some structural damage in homes , especially on the Nicoya Peninsula , about 14 kilometers ( 8 miles ) from the epicenter . Red Cross ambulances evacuated patients from two damaged hospitals , said Enrique Guevara , a spokesman for the Red Cross in the Americas . Hours after the quake , authorities canceled all tsunami warnings and watches . CNN affiliate Teletica showed people streaming out of buildings when the earthquake hit . Telephone service was knocked out in cities near the epicenter , Teletica reported . The station showed photos submitted by viewers of a partially collapsed bridge over the Rio Sucio and a landslide on a highway . Other photos showed floors littered with merchandise inside stores and homes with minor damages . `` It 's unnerving when solid concrete beneath you is shaking from side to side . It was pretty scary , '' said David Boddinger , editor of the English-language Tico Times in San Jose . Seismologists have been predicting a strong quake in that area for years now , and Costa Ricans were wondering if this was the big one , he said . CNN 's Catherine E. Shoichet , Antoinette Campbell and Christine Theodorou contributed to this report .
NEW : Costa Rica 's president says the quake is one of the strongest to hit the country . NEW : Officials offer conflicting reports about whether there have been fatalities . The quake was on Costa Rica 's Nicoya Peninsula , on the Pacific coast . CNN affiliate Teletica shows people streaming out of buildings after the quake .