Mubasher: A magnitude-7.6 earthquake struck around 43 kilometers off the coast of Honduras late Tuesday, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).

Puerto Rico and the US Virgin islands were the most affected by the quake.

Tsunami waves were likely to occur in several countries in the Caribbean and Central America, in addition to Mexico after the earthquake, according to the US Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.

"Tsunami waves reaching 0.3 to 1 metres above the tide level are possible for some coasts of Belize, Cuba, Honduras, Mexico, the Cayman Islands and Jamaica," the agency had said late Tuesday.

"If you notice that the (sea) disappears, you have to go to (a) high place," Juan Jose Reyes, director of Early Warning Systems of the Honduran disaster prevention agency COPECO, said at a briefing with reporters in the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa.

"Pay attention to the alerts, to the authorities," he warned, but called on people not to panic.

Later reports and forecasts said that tsunami fears in those areas have greatly been alleviated and were no longer a threat.