The El Salvador Earthquakes of January and February 2001: Context, Characteristics and Implications for Seismic Risk
Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering 22 (2002) 389–418 www.elsevier.com/locate/soildyn The El Salvador earthquakes of January and February 2001: context, characteristics and implications for seismic risk J.J. Bommera,*, M.B. Benitob, M. Ciudad-Realc, A. Lemoined, M.A. Lo´pez-Menjı´vare, R. Madariagad, J. Mankelowf,P.Me´ndez de Hasbung, W. Murphyh, M. Nieto-Lovoe, C.E. Rodrı´guez-Pinedai, H. Rosaj aDepartment of Civil Engineering, Imperial College, London SW7 2BU, UK bUniversidad Polite´cnica de Madrid, Madrid, Spain cKinemetrics, 222 Vista Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91107, USA dEcole Normale Supe´rieure, Paris, France eEscuela de Ingenierı´a Civil, Universidad de El Salvador, San Salvador, El Salvador fBritish Geological Survey, Keyworth, UK gDpto. Meca´nica Estructural, Universidad Centroamericana “Jose´ Simeo´n Can˜as”, San Salvador, El Salvador hSchool of Earth Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK iFacultad de Ingenierı´a, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Santafe´ de Bogota´, Colombia jFundacio´n PRISMA, San Salvador, El Salvador Accepted 16 March 2002 Abstract The small Central American republic of El Salvador has experienced, on average, one destructive earthquake per decade during the last hundred years. The latest events occurred on 13 January and 13 February 2001, with magnitudes Mw 7.7 and 6.6, respectively. The two events, which were of different tectonic origin, follow the patterns of the seismicity of the region although neither event has a known precedent in the earthquake catalogue in terms of size and location. The earthquakes caused damage to thousands of traditionally built houses and triggered hundreds of landslides, which were the main causes of fatalities.
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