Assessment of landslide hazards resulting from the February 13, 2001, El Salvador earthquake

On February 13, 2001, a magnitude 6.5 earthquake occurred about 40 km East-Southeast of the capital city of San Salvador. It was the second major damaging earthquake to strike El Salvador in 1 month. On January 13, 2001, a moment magnitude (Mw) 7.6 earthquake occurred at a depth of about 39 km, approximately 60 km off the coast south of the city of Usulután. The shaking generated thousands of shallow landslides in the deeply dissected terrain surrounding and east of Lago de Ilopango, it triggered large landslides in the Río El Desagüe and the Río Jiboa drainages, and it caused several major landslides on the north side of Volcán San Vicente. This report summarizes the researcher's field observations of the most prominent slope failures associated with the February 13 earthquake.