El Salvador suffered major tremors this morning when a magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck the coast. The small Central American country sits just outside the boundary of the South American tectonic plate. Today’s activity impacted the El Salvador coast.
Where is El Salvador?
El Salvador, officially known as the Republic of El Salvador, is a small Spanish-speaking nation located in Central America.
Honduras borders El Salvador in the northeast and Guatemala in the northwest.
President Salvador Sánchez Cerén leads the republic and has been in power since 2014.
Where did the earthquake hit?
The El Salvador earthquake struck off the coast of El Salvador 16 miles southeast of La Libertad.
Tremors were detected at a depth of 40 miles, far from the surface, but close enough underground worry earthquake authorities.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) said past earthquakes of this magnitude have required local or regional responses.
The USGS released a yellow warning for shake-related fatalities and economic losses.
They wrote: “Some casualties and damage are possible and the impact should be relatively localised.
“Past yellow alerts have required a local or regional level response.”
The USGS estimates there is a 37 percent chance 100 people could die.
There is a similar 35 percent chance the earthquake could cause at least £75 million of damages.
The main risk to residents is collapsing buildings, as some homes cannot withstand strong tremors.
The USGS said: “Overall, the population in this region resides in structures that are highly vulnerable to earthquake shaking, though some resistant structures exist.
“The predominant vulnerable building types are adobe block and dressed stone/block masonry construction.
“Recent earthquakes in this area have caused secondary hazards such as landslides that might have contributed to losses.”