Scores reported dead in El Salvador quake

Over 1,500 people were injured during the earthquake

In this story: 'Extensive damage' to villages Aftershocks rattle country RELATED STORIES, SITES

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (CNN) -- One month to the day after an earthquake rocked El Salvador, another temblor struck the country Tuesday, killing at least 173 people and injuring another 1,557. Hundreds of buildings were damaged.

The tallies, supplied by President Francisco Flores, are expected to rise.

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The National Emergency Committee, a government agency, also reported landslides in the area and said homes were destroyed by the magnitude-6.1 quake.

The quake flattened much of the heart of San Vicente, 35 miles east of San Salvador, and damaged most of the homes and buildings in four surrounding towns. The quake came after a January 13 earthquake, which left hundreds dead and thousands more injured.

Roney Guttierez of the relief group CARE International said the latest quake would bring renewed hardship to a country still struggling to recover from the earlier disaster.

Guttierez said about 100,000 people had been left homeless from the January quake and that number would likely rise because of Tuesday's temblor.

"It's going to be very difficult, obviously, because this hit areas that were not so severely damaged by the first earthquake, so now the relief is going to have to be spread out even further than it was in terms of area and number of people," he said.

'Extensive damage' to villages

Iain Logan of the International Red Cross said "extensive damage" was reported in villages outside the capital.

"I'm afraid it's just an add-on to the anxiety that we've had in the last few weeks," he said.

The earthquake struck just before 8:30 a.m. (1350 GMT) on Tuesday, frightening residents and sending them fleeing into the streets. The Salvadoran government dispatched military helicopters to assess the damage.

Rafael Callejas, director for CARE in El Salvador, reported landslides caused by the quake.

"We know that there have been landslides in at least three cities and also, classes have been suspended and government offices closed for the day," Callejas said.

Callejas said several aftershocks had been felt since the morning quake.

Aftershocks rattle country

More than 3,000 aftershocks have rattled the region since the January 13 quake, the worst in El Salvador in a decade.

The U.S. Geological Survey in Golden, Colorado, said Tuesday's quake was centered about 15 miles east/southeast of San Salvador -- about 45 miles farther inland than the magnitude-7.7 earthquake that hit last month.

Seismologist Waverly Person said the agency had revised earlier reports about the time, location and magnitude of the temblor. Early reports indicated Tuesday's quake was in the same area as the January quake.

While the USGS had earlier classified the tremor as an aftershock, Person said he is now uncertain because of its location.

"We've got to do some more looking. It's considerably away from where the main shock was," Person said.

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