M 6.0 Earthquakes - May 1951, El Salvador

On 6 May 1951, two successive earthquakes (one measuring 5.9 and the other 6.0 on the Richter Scale) struck the area around Jucuapa (east central El Salvador). The first shock occurred at 5pm local time and was felt strongly in the town but caused little damage.

The second shock, 5 minutes later, had a greater impact, killing 50 and destroying 80 percent of buildings in the town of Chinameca (central-eastern El Salvador) and causing the collapse of 270 out of 300 adobe homes in San Buenaventura (Usulutan department).

The third shock occurred on the 7 May and caused additional damage. The shock was particularly violent at Santiago de Maria destroying about 40 percent of the houses. Aftershocks continued for months afterwards.

¹ Ambrayseys, N.N, Bommer, J.J, Buforn, E & Udias, A. 2001. The earthquake sequence of May 1951 at Jucuapa, El Salvador. Journal of Seismology. Vol. 5, pp 23-39.