The
January 2001 El Salvador earthquake struck
El Salvador on January 13, 2001 at 17:33:34
UTC. The 7.6 (later estimated to be 7.7 or 7.9) quake struck with the epicenter 60 miles (100 km) SW of
San Miguel, El Salvador (13.04°N 88.66°W) at a depth of 60 km. At least 944 people were killed, 5,565 injured, 108,261 houses destroyed — with another 169,692 houses damaged — and more than 150,000 buildings were damaged in El Salvador. About 585 of the deaths were caused by large
landslides in
Santa Tecla and
Comasagua. As is often the case after earthquakes in El Salvador, landslides wreaked significant damage. Estimation of the number of slides is difficult because individual
scarps conjoin. The total has been reported as high as 16,000, though it is unclear how this figure was arrived at. Damage and injuries occurred in every department of El Salvador, particularly the departments of
La Libertad and
Usulután. Eight people were killed in
Guatemala. The tremor was felt from
Mexico City to
Colombia. An aftershock measuring 5.7 magnitude was felt on January 15, an event not widely reported outside the country until after the February quake, which initially was assessed by the USGS at 5.7 magnitude as well.