President Daniel Ortega declared a "red alert" following a powerful 6.2-magnitude earthquake along the same fault line that caused the 1972 quake that leveled Managua.
There have been several temblores (minor tremors) since I arrived, here in El Sauce. But Managua is having real earthquakes. Everyone is on edge, especially people who remember the 1972 quake. Sandra, the señora in my house, lived in Managua in 1972. Her house was near the cemetery. Her nightmare recollection is of trucks full of bodies arriving all day long for many weeks. More than 20,000 people died.
- Managua has been damaged several times by earthquakes.
- There were a number of quakes in the 19th century, including a particularly destructive one in April 1881.
- In March 1931, a magnitude 6.0 quake caused 1500 deaths and 3500 injuries and destroyed 75% of the city, which at the time had 90,000 inhabitants.
- The December 1972 quake was of 6.2 magnitude. It caused 20,000 deaths and destroyed most of Managua, including all its hospitals, fire stations, and police stations. At that time the city had about half a million people.
- Based on this history, people here believe that Managua will suffer a big earthquake every 40 to 50 years.
- The population of Managua now is around 1.5 million, depending on where you draw the lines.
Read more here.
And here.
