The 1986 San Salvador earthquake occurred at on October 10 with a

moment magnitude The moment magnitude scale (MMS; denoted explicitly with or Mw, and generally implied with use of a single M for magnitude) is a measure of an earthquake's magnitude ("size" or strength) based on its seismic moment. It was defined in a 1979 pape ...

of 5.7 and a maximum

Mercalli intensity The Modified Mercalli intensity scale (MM, MMI, or MCS), developed from Giuseppe Mercalli's Mercalli intensity scale of 1902, is a seismic intensity scale used for measuring the intensity of shaking produced by an earthquake. It measures the eff ...

of IX (''Violent''). The shock caused considerable damage to El Salvador's capital city of San Salvador and surrounding areas, including neighboring Honduras and Guatemala.

Earthquake

The 1986 San Salvador earthquake occurred within the upper crust of the Caribbean Plate along the Central American volcanic chain. It was a result of left-lateral strike slip faulting perpendicular to the Central American volcanic chain. The earthquake also caused landslides located in the San Salvador area.

Damage and response

The earthquake caused between 1,000 and 1,500 deaths, 10,000 injuries, and left 200,000 homeless.^5] Shallow shocks directly under San Salvador caused the destruction of multiple structures. San Salvador's children's hospital, a marketplace, many restaurants and buildings, and shanty towns were significantly damaged or destroyed. In response, then-President Jose Napoleon Duarte established the ambitious Earthquake Reconstruction Committee tasked not only with rebuilding but also with modernizing El Salvador's capital. To lead the committee, Duarte tapped noted international urban planner and architect

Jesús Permuy Jesús A. Permuy (born 1935) is a Cuban-American architect, urban planner, human rights activist, art collector, and businessman. He is known for an extensive career of community projects and initiatives in Florida, Washington, D.C., and Latin A ...

, who Duarte also asked to remain for another year to train El Salvadorian officials on modern

urban planning Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...

methods and principles following the conclusion of the Reconstruction Committee.

References

External links

October 10, 1986 San Salvador El Salvador earthquake
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National Geophysical Data Center The United States National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) provided scientific stewardship, products and services for geophysical data describing the solid earth, marine, and solar-terrestrial environment, as well as earth observations from spac ...

* 1986 earthquakes Earthquakes in El Salvador 1986 in El Salvador October 1986 events in North America {{ElSalvador-stub

Earthquake

Damage and response

See also

References

Further reading

External links