Honduras ? A powerful earthquake toppled dozens of homes in Honduras and Belize early Thursday, killing at least six people and injuring 40 as terrified residents spilled from their homes across much of Central America.

The magnitude-7.1 quake struck at 3:24 a.m. CDT off the Caribbean coast of Honduras, 80 miles northeast of the beach town of La Ceiba, according to the U.S. Geological Survey in Golden, Colorado.

“People were running for the door,” Alfredo Cedeno said from the reception desk at the Gran Hotel Paris in La Ceiba. “You could really feel it and you could see it — the water came out of the pool.”