2001 El Salvador earthquakes
Encyclopedia
The 2001 El Salvador earthquakes were two earthquakes which hit El Salvador
within exactly one month of each other, on January 13 and February 13, 2001.
At 17:33:34 UTC the 7.6 (later estimated to be 7.7 or 7.9) quake struck with the epicenter at 60 miles (100 km) SW of San Miguel, El Salvador
(13.04N 88.66W) at a depth of 60 km. At least 944 people were killed, 5,565 injured, 108,261 houses destroyed — 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 landslide
s in Santa Tecla
(also known as Nueva San Salvador) and Comasagua
. Utilities and roads were damaged by more than 16,000 landslides. Damage and injuries occurred in every department of El Salvador, particularly the departments of La Libertad and Usulután
. Eight people were 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 the February quake, which initially was assessed by the USGS at 5.7 magnitude as well.
As of February 2, 2001, more than 2,500 aftershock
s 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.
, El Salvador (13.67N 88.93W) at the depth of 10 km. At least 315 people were killed, 3,399 injured and extensive damage, other 16,752 homes were damaged and 44,759 destroyed http://www.proteccioncivil.gob.sv/zonadescargas/Terremoto%20Febrero%20de%202001%20-%20Final.pdf. The most severe damage occurred in the San Juan Tepezontes
-San Vicente
-Cojutepeque
area, though the quake was felt throughout the country and in neighboring Guatemala and Honduras. Landslides occurred in many areas of El Salvador.
, where it is overriding (subducting) the Cocos plate
. Subduction zones such as this are geologically very complex and produce numerous earthquakes from multiple sources. Shallow intraplate (crustal) earthquakes occur within the crust of the overriding Caribbean plate. Deeper intraplate earthquakes occur within the subducting Cocos plate. The earthquake sequence in the El Salvador region has involved intraplate faulting in both the Cocos and Caribbean plates, with the largest earthquake in the sequence (January 13) occurring in the lower (Cocos) plate. The February 13 earthquake was a strong, shallow intraplate earthquake, occurring within the crust of the overlying Caribbean plate. This earthquake was a strike-slip faulting earthquake, which likely occurred in response to the complicated stresses in the Caribbean plate as it overrides the Cocos plate. It was about 85 km away from the 13 January earthquake and about 30 km shallower.
These two earthquakes occurred in two different plates. The occurrence of any large earthquake changes the stresses throughout the surrounding region. Aftershocks occur in response to these changes. Occasionally, other earthquakes will occur in response to the altered regional stresses. While not technically aftershocks, these earthquakes are related, becoming part of a regional earthquake sequence.
Another example of a regional earthquake sequence is the 1992 Landers-Big Bear sequence in southern California
. The magnitude 7.3 Landers earthquake was followed by the magnitude 6.4 Big Bear earthquake, which occurred on a different fault approximately 36 km away.
that had permitted massive deforestation
in the Santa Tecla
area. Mexican seismologists invited by the Salvadoran government summarized their observations this way:
The government's response to the earthquakes was critiqued from different sides, with some criticizing the legislature for not approving the full amount of emergency funding urged by President Flores, and others condemning what they saw as the ARENA government's contributions to the devastation. The Nicaragua-based magazine Envío argued that the conservative government's pro-business stance had fostered aggressive levels of land development, coupled with high poverty rates that forced poor rural residents to make do with inadequate but cheap building materials, asserting: "Totaling up these factors makes it clear that the consequences of a natural phenomenon like an earthquake cannot be described as 'natural' ... Describing the January 13 earthquake as a 'natural disaster' is not only irresponsible, but also a declaration of future impotence. It assumes fatalistic acceptance that no natural phenomena can be prevented and that all one can do is respond to emergencies as they arise and try to rehabilitate and reconstruct what has been destroyed." The magazine further critiqued the government's optimism about economic recovery in the aftermath of the first quake as an "insulting" minimization of the tragedy caused across the country and as an attempt to shore up the dollarization
campaign that had been the focus of political attention up until the quakes.
El Salvador
El Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...
within exactly one month of each other, on January 13 and February 13, 2001.
The January 13 earthquake
San Miguel, El Salvador
San Miguel is the fourth most populous city in El Salvador after Santa Ana and Soyapango and the second most important after San Salvador. It is located 138 km east of the capital, San Salvador. It is also the capital of the department of San Miguel and a municipality...
(13.04N 88.66W) at a depth of 60 km. At least 944 people were killed, 5,565 injured, 108,261 houses destroyed — 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 landslide
Landslide
A landslide or landslip is a geological phenomenon which includes a wide range of ground movement, such as rockfalls, deep failure of slopes and shallow debris flows, which can occur in offshore, coastal and onshore environments...
s in Santa Tecla
Santa Tecla, El Salvador
Santa Tecla is a municipality in the La Libertad department of El Salvador. It is the capital of the department of La Libertad.The city was named after Saint Thecla who was a saint of the early Christian Church, and a reported follower of Paul of Tarsus in the 1st century AD...
(also known as Nueva San Salvador) and Comasagua
Comasagua
Comasagua is a municipality in the La Libertad department of El Salvador....
. Utilities and roads were damaged by more than 16,000 landslides. Damage and injuries occurred in every department of El Salvador, particularly the departments of La Libertad and Usulután
Usulután Department
Usulután from the Nawat language is a department of El Salvador in the southeast of the country . The capital is Usulután.It is El Salvador's largest department...
. Eight people were killed in Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
. The tremor was felt from Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
to Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
. An aftershock measuring 5.7 magnitude was felt on January 15, an event not widely reported outside the country until after the February quake, which initially was assessed by the USGS at 5.7 magnitude as well.
As of February 2, 2001, more than 2,500 aftershock
Aftershock
An aftershock is a smaller earthquake that occurs after a previous large earthquake, in the same area of the main shock. If an aftershock is larger than the main shock, the aftershock is redesignated as the main shock and the original main shock is redesignated as a foreshock...
s 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
Pawnbroker
A pawnbroker is an individual or business that offers secured loans to people, with items of personal property used as collateral...
to purchase needed food and other commodities.
The February 13 earthquake
At 14:22:05 UTC, the 6.6 quake struck with the epicentre at 15 miles (30 km) E of San SalvadorSan Salvador
The city of San Salvador the capital and largest city of El Salvador, which has been designated a Gamma World City. Its complete name is La Ciudad de Gran San Salvador...
, El Salvador (13.67N 88.93W) at the depth of 10 km. At least 315 people were killed, 3,399 injured and extensive damage, other 16,752 homes were damaged and 44,759 destroyed http://www.proteccioncivil.gob.sv/zonadescargas/Terremoto%20Febrero%20de%202001%20-%20Final.pdf. The most severe damage occurred in the San Juan Tepezontes
San Juan Tepezontes
San Juan Tepezontes is a municipality in the La Paz department of El Salvador....
-San Vicente
San Vicente
San Vicente can refer to:*Argentina**San Vicente, Buenos Aires**San Vicente Partido*Bolivia**San Vicente Canton, Bolivia and its seat San Vicente*Chile**San Vicente, Chile*Colombia**San Vicente del Caguán** San Vicente, Antioquia...
-Cojutepeque
Cojutepeque
Cojutepeque is the capital city of El Salvador's Cuscatlán department. It also serves as the administrative centre for the surrounding municipality of Cojutepeque...
area, though the quake was felt throughout the country and in neighboring Guatemala and Honduras. Landslides occurred in many areas of El Salvador.
Quakes mechanism
The earthquakes occurred within the Cocos-Caribbean subduction zone. El Salvador sits atop the western part of the Caribbean plateCaribbean Plate
The Caribbean Plate is a mostly oceanic tectonic plate underlying Central America and the Caribbean Sea off the north coast of South America....
, where it is overriding (subducting) the Cocos plate
Cocos Plate
The Cocos Plate is an oceanic tectonic plate beneath the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of Central America, named for Cocos Island, which rides upon it.-Geology:...
. Subduction zones such as this are geologically very complex and produce numerous earthquakes from multiple sources. Shallow intraplate (crustal) earthquakes occur within the crust of the overriding Caribbean plate. Deeper intraplate earthquakes occur within the subducting Cocos plate. The earthquake sequence in the El Salvador region has involved intraplate faulting in both the Cocos and Caribbean plates, with the largest earthquake in the sequence (January 13) occurring in the lower (Cocos) plate. The February 13 earthquake was a strong, shallow intraplate earthquake, occurring within the crust of the overlying Caribbean plate. This earthquake was a strike-slip faulting earthquake, which likely occurred in response to the complicated stresses in the Caribbean plate as it overrides the Cocos plate. It was about 85 km away from the 13 January earthquake and about 30 km shallower.
These two earthquakes occurred in two different plates. The occurrence of any large earthquake changes the stresses throughout the surrounding region. Aftershocks occur in response to these changes. Occasionally, other earthquakes will occur in response to the altered regional stresses. While not technically aftershocks, these earthquakes are related, becoming part of a regional earthquake sequence.
Another example of a regional earthquake sequence is the 1992 Landers-Big Bear sequence in southern California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. The magnitude 7.3 Landers earthquake was followed by the magnitude 6.4 Big Bear earthquake, which occurred on a different fault approximately 36 km away.
Post-quake analyses
In the days and weeks following the earthquakes, Salvadoran and foreign agencies analysed the factors that had facilitated the destruction the disasters had caused. While Salvadoran government representatives were quick to point out that the destruction had been far less than that of the 1986 earthquakes, outside researchers critiqued shortcomings in preparedness and in policies toward land developmentLand development
Land development refers to altering the landscape in any number of ways such as:* changing landforms from a natural or semi-natural state for a purpose such as agriculture or housing...
that had permitted massive deforestation
Deforestation
Deforestation is the removal of a forest or stand of trees where the land is thereafter converted to a nonforest use. Examples of deforestation include conversion of forestland to farms, ranches, or urban use....
in the Santa Tecla
Santa Tecla
Santa Tecla may mean:* A saint: see Thecla* Santa Tecla, El Salvador, formerly named Nueva San Salvador...
area. Mexican seismologists invited by the Salvadoran government summarized their observations this way:
The government's response to the earthquakes was critiqued from different sides, with some criticizing the legislature for not approving the full amount of emergency funding urged by President Flores, and others condemning what they saw as the ARENA government's contributions to the devastation. The Nicaragua-based magazine Envío argued that the conservative government's pro-business stance had fostered aggressive levels of land development, coupled with high poverty rates that forced poor rural residents to make do with inadequate but cheap building materials, asserting: "Totaling up these factors makes it clear that the consequences of a natural phenomenon like an earthquake cannot be described as 'natural' ... Describing the January 13 earthquake as a 'natural disaster' is not only irresponsible, but also a declaration of future impotence. It assumes fatalistic acceptance that no natural phenomena can be prevented and that all one can do is respond to emergencies as they arise and try to rehabilitate and reconstruct what has been destroyed." The magazine further critiqued the government's optimism about economic recovery in the aftermath of the first quake as an "insulting" minimization of the tragedy caused across the country and as an attempt to shore up the dollarization
Dollarization
Dollarization occurs when the inhabitants of a country use foreign currency in parallel to or instead of the domestic currency. The term is not only applied to usage of the United States dollar, but generally to the use of any foreign currency as the national currency.The biggest economies to have...
campaign that had been the focus of political attention up until the quakes.
External links
- First quake (USGS)
- Second quake (USGS)
- Images - International Services - El Salvador Earthquake, 2001, photos and information by the American Red CrossAmerican Red CrossThe American Red Cross , also known as the American National Red Cross, is a volunteer-led, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief and education inside the United States. It is the designated U.S...