El Salvador earthquakes. 6.0 magnitude January 18

[Macrocane]

An earthquake was felt in El Salvador and Guatemala a few minutes ago. According to US geological survey the magnitud was 6.0 and the location was offshore Guatemala. Earthquakes between in the 4.0 to 5.0 range are common in both countries, but this one was rather strong.

[Macrocane]

Here is the link to USGS: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2010rqb3.html

I will post the data from the geological agencies in El Salvador and Guatemala when available. I have experienced stronger earthquakes but with the Haitian situation I was more scared than normal.

[Stephanie]

Here is the link to USGS: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2010rqb3.html

I will post the data from the geological agencies in El Salvador and Guatemala when available. I have experienced stronger earthquakes but with the Haitian situation I was more scared than normal.

I can only imagine your fear. Any reports of damage?

[cycloneye]

It was deep (103.3 km) and that mitigates the effects in the area.

[Steagle]

Hey....Good work...We got notified about this in the S2k chatroom ...



[12:12] <s2k_twitter> El Salvador earthquake - 6.0 magnitude. Discuss here: viewforum.php?f=67

[Stephanie]

As soon as I saw Macrocane's post, I tweeted.

[Macrocane]

Thankfully damages has not been reported yet. I will keep you updated when more information is available. It seems that the newspaper and the geological surveys websites have heavy traffic at this time and I have not been able to get more info.

[Tireman4]

Eerie time in the Earth's geological movements...humm.

[Macrocane]

An aftershock has been reported. According to SNET the magnitude was 4.2 and the intensity III in Sonsonate (western El Salvador). Here is the link: http://www.snet.gob.sv/ver/sismologia/monitoreo/sismos+sentidos/

[Macrocane]

An hour ago, another aftershock was felt, this time in San Salvador as well. According to SNET:

Dat: 18 de Enero de 2010
Local Time: 13:36
Latitude (N): 13.697
Longitude (W): -90.491
Localization: Guatemala coast, 140 Km southwest of San Salvador.
Depth (km): 51
Magnitude: 4.8
Intensity: III in San Salvador

http://www.snet.gob.sv/ver/sismologia/monitoreo/sismos+sentidos/

And before that one there was another earthquake but this time in El Salvador's coast, it was only felt in the eastern half of the country:

Local Time: 13:24
Localization: 35 km south of San Juan del Gozo Peninsula (eastern El Salvador).
Depth (km): 43
Magnitude: 3.7
Intensity: III in Alegria

In this link youc can see the last 10 earthquakes that have been felt in El Salvador, 4 of them occured today.
http://www.snet.gob.sv/ver/sismologia/monitoreo/sismos+sentidos/ultimos+10+sismos/

Today's quakes have been a result of the interaction between the Cocos and the Caribbean Plate, the same plates that were responsible for the January 13 2001 earthquake in El Salvador, one of the worsts in the country's history.
MAgnitude: 3.7

[jinftl]

Believe it or not, there are over a million quakes annually across the earth....with 139 of those of magnitude 6.0 or higher.....that is a magnitude 6.0 or higher on average every 3 days somewhere on the planet! If these happen to be in highly populated areas, the impacts can be significant.

Description Magnitude Frequency per year
Great 8.0+ = 1
Major 7.0-7.9 = 18
Large (destructive) 6.0-6.9 = 120
Moderate (damaging) 5.0-5.9 = 1,000
Minor (damage slight) 4.0-4.0 = 6,000
Generally felt 3.0-3.9 = 49,000
Potentially perceptible 2.0-2.9 = 300,000
Imperceptible less than 2.0 = 600,000+
http://www.ceri.memphis.edu/aware/follies.html

Eerie time in the Earth's geological movements...humm.

[Stephanie]

That Caribbean plate has been busy lately. There must be a lot of pressure building up along it.

[cycloneye]

Macrocane,they downgraded the intensity to 5.8 and the depth up to 54 kms.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/ ... hp#details

[Macrocane]

Thanks for the info cycloneye. That depth is now closer to the depth estimated by the SNET. By the way no more earthquakes have been felt since the last two that I reported this afternoon.

[Stephanie]

Thanks for the info cycloneye. That depth is now closer to the depth estimated by the SNET. By the way no more earthquakes have been felt since the last two that I reported this afternoon.

That's good to hear.