1/13/2001 El Salvador Earthquake

Updated 2/20/2001

At 11:34 AM local time (1734 GMT) 1/13/01 an earthquake measuring 7.6 Magnitude with an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean 65 miles 110 km) off the coast of El Salvador. The nearest town was San Miguel. Unlike the 1986 7.5 M quake that devastated the capital, San Salvador, this quake caused extensive damage mostly in the countryside. The quake was felt across El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras and as far north as Mexico City. As is common after a large quake, there have been frequent aftershocks, some of them up to 5.7 Magnitude. People are sleeping in the streets for fear of further damage to their houses. President Flores is urging calm, dismissing rumors that aftershocks could cause tsunamis or volcanic eruptions. He said that although the danger is not past there are not likely to be anything as strong as the original quake. There have been additional building collapses and landslides triggered by aftershocks.

Over 1,000 people are confirmed dead, 2500 injured and 750,000 homeless. 141,000 houses were destroyed. The homeless are living in refugee camps with no where to go. President Flores ordered 3,000 coffins from Columbia immediately following the quake. 500 of the fatalities were people trapped in a landslide in San Tecla outside of San Salvador. A hillside collapsed, covering up to 500 houses. Rescuers hurried to uncover the houses in the hope of finding survivors. The BBC reports that residents claim that construction of the houses had been done improperly, undermining the hillside. Early efforts were hampered by lack of equipment. Roads have been blocked by landslides, communications are difficult and power is out throughout the country. The airport was closed for a day or two after the quake due to heavy damage to the passenger terminal. Many buildings have collapsed, including a church over 100 years old. 50,000 people have been evacuated from dangerous areas due to fears of further landslides. According to the BBC 1/16/01 "As many as half of the country's six million people are without water supplies, the Pan-American Health Organization said. Efforts are being intensified to get food, blankets and tents to those made homeless. Improvised shelters of canvas and plastic have been erected and the army is distributing rations of rice and beans."

President Flores has declared a national disaster and called for international aid. Total damage from the quake is estimated at $1.3 billion, over 15% of the annual economic output.. Mexico was the first to send a rescue team, followed by Taiwan, Switzerland and many other countries, including the USA. Taiwan sent a rescue team formed after their 1999 disastrous quake. Relief supplies include helicopters, dogs trained to find buried victims, food, blankets and money. After about a week the focus changed from rescue to relief . Bodies were being buried as quickly as possible in mass graves to prevent the spread of disease. There is an urgent need to care for those displaced by the quake. There has been some speculation that deforestation due to extensive logging destabilized hillsides and increased the severity of the landslides.

CNN reports, "A 22-year-old man was rescued after he alerted searchers by tapping for hours on concrete debris that had fallen on him. Another trapped man escaped death by using a cellular phone to call for help and inform rescuers of his location."

Geologically the quake was caused by the subduction of the Cocos Plate under the Caribbean Plate. The Cocos Plate is one of the remnants of a larger plate to the east of the Pacific Plate. The Juan De Fuca Plate, off of the Pacific Northwest coast of the United States and British Columbia, Canada, is another remnant of that plate. These plates are subducting under the neighboring plates to the east and will eventually be entirely consumed, as it was off the California coast where the Pacific Plate is now directly against the North American Plate in the San Andreas fault zone. (See the Plate Tectonics page for more information on these processes.)

See also the following news stories:

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