RT Journal Article
T1 Geological and Seismological Analysis of the 13 February 2001Mw 6.6 El Salvador Earthquake: Evidence for SurfaceRupture and Implications for Seismic Hazard
A1 Canora Catalán, Carolina
A1 Martínez Díaz, José Jesús
A1 Villamor Pérez, María Pilar
A1 Berryman, K.R.
A1 Álvarez Gómez, José Antonio
A1 Pullinger, Carlos
A1 Capote Del Villar, Ramón
AB The El Salvador earthquake of 13 February 2001 (Mw 6.6) causedtectonic rupture on the El Salvador fault zone (ESFZ). Right-lateral strike-slip surfacerupture of the east–west trending fault zone had a maximum surface displacement of0.60 m. No vertical component was observed. The earthquake resulted in widespreadlandslides in the epicentral area, where bedrock is composed of volcanic sediments,tephra, and weak ignimbrites. In the aftermath of the earthquake, widespread damageto houses and roads and the hazards posed by landslides captured the attentionof responding agencies and scientists, and the presence of surface-fault rupturewas overlooked. Additionally, the tectonic context in which the earthquake took placehad not been clear until mapping of the ESFZ was completed for the present study.Weidentified several fault segments, the distribution of surface ruptures, the aftershockpattern, and fault-rupture scaling considerations that indicate the 21-km-long SanVicente segment ruptured in the 2001 event. Static Coulomb stress transfer modelsfor the San Vicente rupture are consistent with both aftershock activity of the 2001sequence and ongoing background seismicity in the region. At Mw 6.6, the 2001earthquake was of only moderate magnitude, yet there was significant damage tothe country’s infrastructure, including buildings and roads, and numerous deathsand injuries. Thus, earthquake hazard and risk in the vicinity of the ESFZ, which straddlesthe city of San Salvador with a population of >2 million, is high because evenmoderate-magnitude events can result in major damage, deaths, and injuries in theregion.
PB Seismological Society of America
SN 0037-1106
YR 2010
FD 2010
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/44264
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/44264
LA eng
DS Docta Complutense
RD 21 abr 2025