Overall Green Earthquake alert in El Salvador on 12 May 2021 08:45 UTC

GDACS is a cooperation framework between the United Nations, the European Commission and disaster managers worldwide to improve alerts, information exchange and coordination in the first phase after major sudden-onset disasters.

M 5.9 in El Salvador on 12 May 2021 08:45 UTC

Hazard models

EQ parameters

Shakemap

Tsunami

Event summary

This earthquake is expected to have a low humanitarian impact based on the magnitude and the affected population and their vulnerability.

Earthquake Magnitude:	5.9M
Depth:	45.95 Km
Lat/Lon:	13.3319 , -90.2104
Event Date:	12 May 2021 08:45 UTC 12 May 2021 02:45 Local
Exposed Population:	1500000 people within 100km
Source:	NEIC us7000e2c6
Inserted at:	12 May 2021 09:06 UTC
INFORM Coping capacity of the alert score	5.5 (Guatemala)
INFORM Coping capacity of the affected contries:	Guatemala= 5.5; El Salvador= 4.6

GDACS Score

For more info on GDACS alert score click here.

	Earthquake (Shakemap)		GDACS score
NEIC	0		0
us7000e2c6	Scaled population (raster)	0
	C1 shakemap	-0.59
	C2 shakemap	0.53
	Country Vulnerability	0
	INFORM_normalised	1.05

Maximum expected impact using different data sources.

Episode Timeline

ID	Alert	Score	Date	Mag, Depth	MMI*	Population**	Tsunami risk***	Delay (hh:mm)	Source
1374755		0	12 May 2021 08:45	5.9M, 45.95km	4.21	N/A (in MMI>=VII)		00:20	NEIC

The episode that generated the alert; the next major evaluations beyond 12 hours will not trigger additional alerts.

The episode that has the last updated information.

* The max MMI detected for sources having shakemaps;
** The population detected in MMI>=7 for episode with shakemap or in a 100km radius;
*** The tsunami max height.

Exposed population

The earthquake happened in El Salvador , Department of Ahuachapan (population 297,743) . The nearest places are Barra de Santiago, Las Champas, Metalío, Barra de la Gabina, Buenos Aires, Los Cóbanos, Acajutla, Cara, Caserío El Guayabo, San Pedro, and Tacuba.

Radius	Population
100 km	1.5 million people
75 km	580000 people
50 km	41000 people
20 km	no people
10 km	no people
5 km	no people
2 km	no people

Affected Provinces

Region Province	Country	Population
Ahuachapan	El Salvador	300000 people
Sonsonate	El Salvador	400000 people
Jutiapa	Guatemala	430000 people
Santa Rosa	Guatemala	330000 people
La Libertad	El Salvador	490000 people
Escuintla	Guatemala	570000 people
Santa Ana	El Salvador	520000 people
Guatemala	Guatemala	2.2 million people
San Salvador	El Salvador	1.2 million people
Chalatenango	El Salvador	270000 people
La Paz	El Salvador	310000 people
Jalapa	Guatemala	230000 people
Cuscatlan	El Salvador	230000 people
Sacatepequez	Guatemala	210000 people
Chiquimula	Guatemala	290000 people
Chimaltenango	Guatemala	390000 people
Suchitepequez	Guatemala	410000 people
San Vicente	El Salvador	230000 people
Cabanas	El Salvador	210000 people
El Progreso	Guatemala	140000 people
Usulutan	El Salvador	460000 people
Ocotepeque	Honduras	89000 people
Solola	Guatemala	260000 people
Lempira	Honduras	210000 people
Zacapa	Guatemala	200000 people
Baja Verapaz	Guatemala	200000 people
Retalhuleu	Guatemala	260000 people
Quiche	Guatemala	560000 people
San Miguel	El Salvador	510000 people
Copan	Honduras	260000 people
Intibuca	Honduras	150000 people
Totonicapan	Guatemala	350000 people
Alta Verapaz	Guatemala	510000 people
Quezaltenango	Guatemala	630000 people
Izabal	Guatemala	330000 people
Morazan	El Salvador	250000 people
La Paz	Honduras	130000 people
La Union	El Salvador	370000 people
San Marcos	Guatemala	810000 people
Huehuetenango	Guatemala	740000 people
Santa Barbara	Honduras	310000 people
Chiapas	Mexico	3.5 million people
Valle	Honduras	140000 people
Comayagua	Honduras	270000 people
Chinandega	Nicaragua	360000 people
Francisco Morazan	Honduras	1000000 people
Peten	Guatemala	230000 people
Cortes	Honduras	800000 people
Choluteca	Honduras	360000 people
Toledo	Belize	17000 people
Yoro	Honduras	400000 people
El Paraiso	Honduras	280000 people
Leon	Nicaragua	380000 people
Cayo	Belize	34000 people
Atlantida	Honduras	410000 people
Nueva Segovia	Nicaragua	130000 people
Madriz	Nicaragua	98000 people
Esteli	Nicaragua	190000 people
Olancho	Honduras	340000 people
Stann Creek	Belize	21000 people
Managua	Nicaragua	1.1 million people
Jinotega	Nicaragua	190000 people
Matagalpa	Nicaragua	350000 people
Carazo	Nicaragua	170000 people
Tabasco	Mexico	1.6 million people
Belize	Belize	68000 people
Masaya	Nicaragua	250000 people
Orange Walk	Belize	33000 people
Boaco	Nicaragua	130000 people
Granada	Nicaragua	180000 people
Colon	Honduras	150000 people
Rivas	Nicaragua	170000 people
Campeche	Mexico	580000 people

Affected populated places

Name	Region Province	Country	City class	Population	Distance
Barra de Santiago	Ahuachapán	El Salvador	Village	-	48 km
Las Champas	Jutiapa	Guatemala	Village	-	48 km
Metalío	Sonsonate	El Salvador	Village	-	48 km
Barra de la Gabina	Jutiapa	Guatemala	Village	-	49 km
Buenos Aires	Sonsonate	El Salvador	Village	-	49 km
Los Cóbanos	Sonsonate	El Salvador	Village	-	50 km
Acajutla	Sonsonate	El Salvador	City	22000 people	50 km
Cara	Ahuachapán	El Salvador	Village	-	53 km
Caserío El Guayabo	Ahuachapán	El Salvador	Village	-	54 km
San Pedro	Santa Rosa	Guatemala	Village	-	55 km
Hacienda El Chagüite	Ahuachapan	El Salvador	Village	-	56 km
Cupatacho	Sonsonate	El Salvador	Village	-	56 km
Miravalles	Sonsonate	El Salvador	Village	-	57 km
El Refugio	Ahuachapan	El Salvador	Village	-	58 km
El Amatal	Ahuachapan	El Salvador	Village	-	58 km
Los Platanares	Ahuachapan	El Salvador	Village	-	59 km
Astillero	Santa Rosa	Guatemala	Village	-	59 km
Danta	Jutiapa	Guatemala	Village	-	61 km
Las Pozas	Santa Rosa	Guatemala	Village	-	62 km
Hacienda Santa Clara	Sonsonate	El Salvador	Village	-	62 km
Hacienda Vieja	Jutiapa	Guatemala	Village	-	62 km
Jujutla	Ahuachapán	El Salvador	Village	2000 people	63 km
Acachapa	Sonsonate	El Salvador	Village	-	64 km
Agua Fría	Ahuachapan	El Salvador	Village	-	65 km
San Rafael	Ahuachapan	El Salvador	Village	-	65 km
El Arco	Ahuachapan	El Salvador	Village	-	66 km
Las Lomas	Jutiapa	Guatemala	Village	-	67 km
Agua Dulce	Santa Rosa	Guatemala	Village	-	68 km
El Garrobo	Jutiapa	Guatemala	Village	-	68 km
Sonsonate	Sonsonate	El Salvador	City	59000 people	68 km
El Chagüite	Jutiapa	Guatemala	Village	-	69 km
San Rafael	Santa Rosa	Guatemala	Village	-	69 km
El Pumpo	Santa Rosa	Guatemala	Village	-	69 km
El Cacao	Sonsonate	El Salvador	Village	-	70 km
Los Cerritos	Santa Rosa	Guatemala	Village	-	70 km
Tacuba	Ahuachapán	El Salvador	Village	5100 people	70 km

see full list

Critical infrastructure

Airports, ports, nuclear plants and hydrodams at risk, if affected, are listed below.

Airports

Name	IATA Code	Elevation (m)	Usage	Runway type	IFR	Runway Length (ft)	Distance
San Jose		9	Civ.	Paved	No	6500	95 km

Ports

Name	LOCODE	Country	Distance
Acajutla	SVAQJ	El Salvador	49 km
Puerto Quetzail	GTPRQ	Guatemala	90 km
San Jose	GTSJO	Guatemala	93 km
San Jose	GTSJO	Guatemala	93 km
La Libertad	SVLLD	El Salvador	98 km

More information

For a full list of available products related to this event, please refer to the GDACS Resources page.

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