The Permanent Contingency Commission [COPECO] reported that no one was injured in the inundation Thursday. The waves washed nearly 200 feet (60 meters) inland in a tourist zone about 93 miles (150 kilometers) south of Tegucigalpa.

The commission says the waves were caused by the gravity of the moon, whose elliptical orbit last week reached its closest point to Earth since 1993. The phenomenon can cause abnormally high tides.

The commission is urging 20,000 people in 30 Honduran communities in the Gulf of Fonseca to take precautions and stay away from the beaches.