1986 San Salvador earthquake

1986 San Salvador earthquake
Isoseismal map for the earthquake (above) and epicentral location (below)
Date October 10, 1986 (1986-10-10)
Magnitude 5.7 Mw[1]
Depth 7 kilometres (4 mi)
Countries or regions  El Salvador
 Honduras
 Guatemala
Casualties 1000-1500 fatalities

The 1986 San Salvador Earthquake struck El Salvador on October 10, 1986 at 17:49:24 UTC (11:49:24 local time), causing considerable damage to the capital city, San Salvador, and surrounding areas, including neighbouring Honduras and Guatemala.[2]

Between 1,000 and 1,500 people are believed to have been killed, and over 10,000 people were injured. 200,000 people were left homeless after the earthquake and a week of minor aftershocks.[1][2]

Although of only 'moderate' magnitude, the earthquake was a shallow event right under San Salvador, and this led to the destruction of many structures, including the city's children's hospital, the multilevel/underground marketplace which at the time of day was filled with people, and many apartment buildings and restaurants (one next to the American Embassy, which itself was badly damaged and later replaced on a new site), and shanty towns.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Harlow, David H. (e.a.) (August 1993). "The San Salvador earthquake of 10 October 1986 and its historical context". Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 83 (4): 1143–1154. http://bssa.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/content/abstract/83/4/1143. Retrieved 2009-05-28. 
  2. ^ a b "Significant earthquakes in 1986". http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/eqarchives/significant/sig_1986.php.