Quake aftershock frightens Salvadorans

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (CNN) -- A strong earthquake rocked El Salvador on Tuesday, a month to the day after a deadly 7.6 magnitude quake struck the Central American nation and killed at least 827 people.

Waverly Person of the U.S. Geological Survey in Denver, Colorado, said the tremor measured a magnitude of 5.7, qualifying it as "moderate." He said Tuesday's earthquake was an aftershock from the massive quake that struck the region January 13.

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"It's the second one of that magnitude," Person said. "There was another 5.7 on the 15th of January. There is a possibility there could be some additional damage, but we didn't get any additional damage to speak of from the one on the 15th."

Frightened residents of El Salvador fled into the streets when the tremor struck about 8:30 a.m. (1350 GMT). The Salvadoran government dispatched military helicopters to assess the damage.

More than 3,000 aftershocks have rattled the region since the January 13 quake, the worst in El Salvador in a decade. That earthquake caused more than $1 billion in damage and left tens of thousands of people homeless and in need of aid.

Hundreds of the dead were believed buried in a mudslide when the side of a mountain near Santa Tecla came loose and buried the middle-class suburb of San Salvador.

Person said that the epicenter of Tuesday's quake was about 80 kilometers (50 miles) southeast of the capital, San Salvador, in the same area as last month's deadly quake.

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U.S. Geological Survey Home Page
  • Earthquake Information for the World
The Richter Scale
Central America Earthquake Map - Last 14 days
El Diario de Hoy de El Salvador (Spanish newspaper)
  • Identidad de algunas v’ctimas (a partial list of victims)

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