Publication: Triggering of destructive earthquakes in El Salvador
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Publication Date
2004
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Geological Society of America
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Abstract
We investigate the existence of a mechanism of static stress triggering driven by the
interaction of normal faults in the Middle American subduction zone and strike-slip faults
in the El Salvador volcanic arc. The local geology points to a large strike-slip fault zone,
the El Salvador fault zone, as the source of several destructive earthquakes in El Salvador
along the volcanic arc. We modeled the Coulomb failure stress (CFS) change produced
by the June 1982 and January 2001 subduction events on planes parallel to the El Salvador
fault zone. The results have broad implications for future risk management in the region,
as they suggest a causative relationship between the position of the normal-slip events in
the subduction zone and the strike-slip events in the volcanic arc. After the February 2001
event, an important area of the El Salvador fault zone was loaded with a positive change
in Coulomb failure stress (.0.15 MPa). This scenario must be considered in the seismic
hazard assessment studies that will be carried out in this area.