Earthquakes
In the last hundred years, El Salvador has had 13 major earthquakes. In 2001, one of the greatest earthquakes that has hit El Salvador happened. The Richter scale measured it at a 7.6 magnitude. The earthquake struck with the epicenter at 60 miles and it happened southwest of San Miguel. A month after another earthquake hit El Salvador. Together, these two earthquakes did major damage. Killing 944, injuring 5,565, and a total of 1,364,160 victims. This earthquake was one of the most powerful earthquakes to hit Central America in 20 years. The earthquakes occurred within the Cocos-Caribbean subduction zone. El Salvador is located at the western part of the Caribbean Plate, where it is subducting the Cocos plate. Subduction zones like this one are very complex and produce many earthquakes from multiple sources. Intraplate 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 has involved intraplate faulting in both the Cocos and Caribbean plates.
In the last hundred years, El Salvador has had 13 major earthquakes. In 2001, one of the greatest earthquakes that has hit El Salvador happened. The Richter scale measured it at a 7.6 magnitude. The earthquake struck with the epicenter at 60 miles and it happened southwest of San Miguel. A month after another earthquake hit El Salvador. Together, these two earthquakes did major damage. Killing 944, injuring 5,565, and a total of 1,364,160 victims. This earthquake was one of the most powerful earthquakes to hit Central America in 20 years. The earthquakes occurred within the Cocos-Caribbean subduction zone. El Salvador is located at the western part of the Caribbean Plate, where it is subducting the Cocos plate. Subduction zones like this one are very complex and produce many earthquakes from multiple sources. Intraplate 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 has involved intraplate faulting in both the Cocos and Caribbean plates.
The Pacific Disaster Center has chosen El Salvador to participate in a National Disaster Preparedness Assessment because of it's diverse hazard profile. El Salvador is at risk for volcanic activity, earthquakes, flooding, and landslides. El Salvador also has strong disaster management culture, with active civil military preparedness and response engagements.
Reference Centre for Institutional Disaster Preparedness established at the Salvadorean Red Cross Society in 2005, with the support of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. It was created to strengthen disaster preparedness and vulnerability reduction programs for the seven Central American National Societies.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/13/newsid_2554000/2554149.stm
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqarchives/year/2001/2001_01_13_seis.php
http://geogon.wikispaces.com/Earthquakes
http://www.pdc.org/UserFiles/File/NDPBA_ElSalvador.pdf
http://www.ifrc.org/en/news-and-media/news-stories/americas/el-salvador/reference-centre-for-institutional-disaster-preparedness-in-el-salvador-58240/
I loved that you included a map of the epicenters. You can follow the plate subducting as the quakes are deeper...cool!
ReplyDeleteIt is also good to hear the country has strong awareness of the hazards and participates actively in how to mitigate them!
I really enjoyed reading your blog. It's detailed and filled with interesting facts! Thanks for posting.
ReplyDeleteThe country I chose, the Philippines, is also a very active due to the nearby plate boundaries. I think our countries are also similar in closeness to the equator!