January 2001 El Salvador earthquake facts for kids
 
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| UTC time | 2001-01-13 17:33:32 |
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| ISC event | 1763440 |
| USGS-ANSS | ComCat |
| Local date | January 13, 2001 |
| Local time | 11:33 |
| Magnitude | 7.7–7.9 Mw |
| Depth | 60 kilometres (37 mi) |
| Epicenter | 13°02′N 88°40′W / 13.04°N 88.66°W |
| Type | Normal |
| Areas affected | El Salvador Guatemala |
| Max. intensity | VIII (Severe) |
| Casualties |
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The January 2001 El Salvador earthquake struck El Salvador on January 13, 2001, at 17:33:34 UTC. The 7.6 (later estimated to be 7.7 or 7.9) quake struck with the epicenter 60 miles (100 km) SW of San Miguel, El Salvador (13.04°N 88.66°W) at a depth of 60 km (31 mi).
Contents
Impact
At least 944 people were killed, 5,565 others were injured, 108,261 houses collapsed, with another 169,692 houses damaged, and more than 150,000 buildings were damaged in El Salvador. About 585 of the deaths were caused by large landslides in Santa Tecla and Comasagua. As is often the case after earthquakes in El Salvador, landslides wreaked significant damage. The number of slides is difficult to estimate because individual scarps conjoin. The total has been reported as high as 16,000, though it is unclear how this figure was arrived at. Damage and injuries occurred in every department of El Salvador, particularly the departments of La Libertad and Usulután. Eight people were also killed in Guatemala. The tremor was felt from Mexico City to Colombia. An aftershock measuring 5.7 magnitude was felt on January 15, an event not widely reported outside the country until after another earthquake on February 13, which initially was assessed by the USGS at 5.7 magnitude as well.
As of February 2, 2001, more than 2,500 aftershocks had hit El Salvador, leading to additional damage and terrorizing the inhabitants. Clean water and sanitation became a matter of grave concern in many areas due to the earthquake's destruction of some $7 million to municipal drinking water systems, and tens of thousands of people were living outdoors in spite of the approaching rainy season (Invierno). Government and public health organizations warned of the possible spread of disease as desperate people began to scavenge debris piles – some containing severed human limbs – looking for items they could pawn to purchase needed food and other commodities.
Tectonic setting
El Salvador lies above the convergent boundary where oceanic crust of the Cocos Plate is being subducted beneath the Caribbean Plate at rate of about 72 mm per year along the Middle America Trench. This boundary is associated with earthquakes resulting from movement on the plate interface itself, such as the Mw 7.7 1992 Nicaragua earthquake, and from faulting within both the overriding Caribbean Plate and the subducting Cocos Plate, such as the 1982 El Salvador earthquake.
Earthquake
The January 13 earthquake was a result of normal faulting within the subducting Cocos Plate as shown by the hypocentral depth and published focal mechanisms. Of the two possible fault planes indicated, analysis of observed seismic waves supports the solution with a fault plane dipping moderately to the northeast. It was followed by a series of aftershocks, including 70 greater than M 4 of which 10 were greater than M 5 in the period up to February 2, 2020. The largest aftershock was an M 5.8 event at 12:20 on January 15.
Exactly one month after the mainshock there was another destructive earthquake, which occurred on an entirely different fault within the overriding Caribbean Plate, leading to a further 315 deaths.
See also
- 1986 San Salvador earthquake
- List of earthquakes in 2001
- List of earthquakes in El Salvador
