A powerful 7.1-magnitude earthquake rocked the economic and tourist heart of Honduras on Thursday, killing five, wounding at least 13, and shaking neighbouring countries as far away as Mexico.

Officials expected the death toll to rise as reports arrived from rugged areas around Honduras' Caribbean coast, and locals feared further aftershocks.

"I felt my bed sway like a hammock," said 40-year-old Elias Dominguez, a resident of El Progreso, 260km north of the capital, who was woken by the quake.

"The house moved as if it was on top of a wave." Some 20km away, a 15-year-old boy died when a house collapsed on him.