Two killed in Guatemala earthquakes

Guatemala City: Two people were killed when their vehicle was buried under a landslide after a series of earthquakes shook much of the Central American country on Tuesday, Guatemalan authorities said.

The swarm of tremors up to 5.6 magnitude rattled the country on Tuesday afternoon, centred near the towns of Amatitlan and Alotenango southwest of the capital, seismological services reported.

"Unfortunately, human fatalities are confirmed" due to a landslide after rocks and earth buried a vehicle on a highway, said Andres Erazo, a spokesman for disaster coordination agency Corned.

The quakes were also felt in neighbouring El Salvador.

The landslide occurred on a road southwest of the capital near the city of Antigua Guatemala in the central highlands.

President Bernardo Arevalo told reporters the quakes had also trapped a family of five, who were being rescued, and two others who were being treated for injuries after being freed.

The tremors forced dozens to evacuate buildings in Guatemala City where anti-earthquake alarms sounded, an AFP journalist reported.

Central America often experiences tremors due to the shifting Caribbean and Cocos tectonic plates.