Otto weakens into tropical storm over Costa Rica: NHC

(Reuters) - Otto, formerly a hurricane, weakened into a tropical storm over northwestern Costa Rica, the National Hurricane Center said in its latest alert late on Thursday. Otto was located about 20 miles (30 km) north of Liberia, Costa Rica with maximum sustained winds of 70 miles per hour (110 km/h). The center of the storm should move across northwestern Costa Rica and into the eastern north Pacific Ocean during the next few hours, then move away from the central American coast on Friday, the NHC added. Otto battered Nicaragua and Costa Rica with powerful winds and torrential rains on Thursday, the same day a major earthquake shook the region, with homes damaged and thousands evacuated, but no deaths reported. (Reporting By Nallur Sethuraman in Bengaluru; Editing by Kim Coghill)