Reviewed by USGSEl Salvador25y ago
M3.6 earthquake 99 km S of Puerto El Triunfo, El Salvador
Sunday, February 11, 2001, 15:22:16 UTC · 12.382°N, 88.593°W
A magnitude 3.6 earthquake struck 99 km S of Puerto El Triunfo, El Salvador on Sunday, February 11, 2001, 15:22:16 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 3.6
- Minor · mb
- Depth
- 33 km
- Shallow
- Felt reports
- 0
- Did You Feel It?
- Est. shaking
- —
- No ShakeMap
- PAGER alert
- None
- Not issued
- Tsunami
- No flag
- USGS feed
Outlined circle: this earthquakeDashed circle: 50 km aftershock search area
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
4 tons of TNT
That is about 1/3,975 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 126 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
54 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Caribbean and Cocos plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
33 km
Shallow earthquakes (under 70 km) produce the strongest surface shaking for their size, so they are the ones most likely to cause damage near the epicenter.
Did You Feel It?
Where it was felt
No “Did You Feel It?” reports have been published for this event yet. If you felt it, you can add your report on the USGS website.
I felt it — report to USGS ↗USGS PAGER estimate
Who was exposed to shaking
USGS publishes PAGER impact estimates for significant earthquakes, usually within an hour. No PAGER estimate is available for this event.
After the main event
Aftershocks within 50 km
USGS lists 1 M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.5 on March 12, 2001. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 437 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.712 km NW of Chalatenango, El SalvadorSeptember 7, 1915 · 199 km N of this epicenter
- 7.783 km SSW of Corinto, NicaraguaSeptember 2, 1992 · 154 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.728 km SSW of Puerto El Triunfo, El SalvadorJanuary 13, 2001 · 75 km N of this epicenter
- 7.392 km SW of San Juan del Sur, NicaraguaDecember 30, 1907 · 297 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.318 km SSW of La Libertad, El SalvadorJune 19, 1982 · 136 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.27 km SW of El Viejo, NicaraguaMarch 28, 1921 · 152 km E of this epicenter
- 7.2116 km SW of Corinto, NicaraguaJuly 1, 1907 · 114 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.1113 km SSW of Puerto El Triunfo, El SalvadorFebruary 8, 1926 · 25 km SW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 63 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 17,464 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1972M6.2
Managua
23 Dec 1972 · 271 km away
10,000 deaths$3.0 billion damage
- 1986M5.4
San Salvador
10 Oct 1986 · 170 km away
1,100 deaths$1.5 billion damage
- 1951M6.5
Jucuapa
6 May 1951 · 110 km away
1,100 deaths$23 million damage
- 1854
San Salvador
14 Apr 1854 · 171 km away
1,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1930
Managua
31 Mar 1930 · 262 km away
1,000 deaths$15 million damage
- 2001M7.7
El Salvador; Guatemala
13 Jan 2001 · 75 km away · intensity VIII
844 deaths$753 million damagetsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.