EL Salvador

A man assesses the cracks le At least 274 people were killed and 2,937 injured when an earthquake measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale shook El Salvador on February 13, 2001. The epicentre of the earthquake was 20 kilometres from San Salvador, El Salvador's capital city. Salvador's National Emergency Committee reported that the quake triggered 25 landslides. Hundreds of buildings collapsed following the earthquake. The quake has also disrupted much of the country's water supply network. Officials say that damages from the latest earthquake amounting to us $1.5 billion, are far surpassing the damages caused by the 7.6-magnitude quake on January 13, 2001 that killed at least 844 people (see 'Earth-shaking intervention', Down To Earth , Vol 9, No 18, February 15). "The second quake has been substantially bigger in terms of damages," said Juan Jose Dabou, personal secretary to the country's president.