SAN JOSE, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from Thursday's strong earthquake in Costa Rica rose to 18 on Saturday, with scores missing and injured, officials said.

    The worst quake to hit the Central American country in decades has left at least 56 people missing and 1,378 homeless, and has caused estimated losses of 12 million U.S. dollars, figures from Costa Rica's Red Cross showed.

    The Red Cross' president, Miguel Carmona, said the rescue work, which had to be suspended Friday because of the aftershocks, was resumed on Saturday. Officials warned that the death toll could rise as rescue teams were reaching isolated villages hit by landslides caused by the 6.2-magnitude quake.

    The Costa Rican government, media organizations and companies have started a campaign to donate food and other relief items to the victims, while many volunteers were taking part in the rescue work.

    The quake hit at 1:21 p.m. local time Thursday (1921 GMT), some30 km northwest of the capital city of San Jose. The quake was followed by some 2,000 aftershocks.