A strong 6.6-magnitude earthquake has struck Costa Rica but there is no threat of a destructive widespread tsunami.

The epicentre of the quake, which struck at 6:45pm on Tuesday (1145 Wednessday AEDT), is located over land, 140km west of the capital San Jose, but only 10km from the town of Hojancha, the US Geological Survey said.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre issued a bulletin saying “no destructive widespread tsunami threat exists”.

But the centre warned that quakes of that magnitude “can generate local tsunamis that can be destructive along coasts” located within 100km of the epicentre.

In September, a powerful 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck off Costa Rica’s Pacific coast, briefly knocking out power lines, damaging rooftops and causing panic, but no reported casualties.