Articles | Volume 17, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/se-17-369-2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/se-17-369-2026
Research article
 | 
03 Mar 2026
Research article |  | 03 Mar 2026

Unveiling tectonic deformation in El Salvador through GNSS and InSAR kinematic modelling

Juan Portela, Marta Béjar-Pizarro, Alejandra Staller, Cécile Lasserre, Beatriz Cosenza-Muralles, José Antonio Álvarez-Gómez, and José Jesús Martínez-Díaz

Related authors

The TSUSY Database: a global database of historical tsunami events and a tsunami-occurrence criterion based on historical earthquakes
David Galán-Pérez, Iñigo Aniel-Quiroga, Albert Gallego, Ignacio Aguirre-Ayerbe, Mauricio González, Omar Quetzalcóatl, Jose Antonio Álvarez-Gómez, and Luis Pedraz
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-644,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-644, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences (NHESS).
Short summary
Coseismic surface rupture probabilities from earthquake cycle simulations: influence of fault geometry
Octavi Gómez-Novell, Francesco Visini, José Antonio Álvarez-Gómez, Bruno Pace, and Julián García-Mayordomo
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 651–673, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-26-651-2026,https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-26-651-2026, 2026
Short summary
Consistency of seismic hazard estimates from a physics-based earthquake simulator: a case study in south-eastern Spain
Octavi Gómez-Novell, Francesco Visini, Paula Herrero-Barbero, José Antonio Álvarez-Gómez, and Julián García-Mayordomo
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-5485,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-5485, 2025
Short summary
Dependence of Seismic Hazard Assessment on the Observation Time Interval: Insights from a Synthetic Earthquake Catalogue in Southeastern Spain
Elena Pascual-Sánchez, José Antonio Álvarez-Gómez, Julián García-Mayordomo, and Paula Herrero-Barbero
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-4870,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-4870, 2025
Short summary
Onshore and offshore seismotectonics of Iberia: an updated review
Antonio Olaiz, José A. Álvarez Gómez, Gerardo de Vicente, Alfonso Muñoz-Martín, Juan V. Cantavella, Susana Custódio, Dina Vales, and Oliver Heidbach
Solid Earth, 16, 947–1024, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-16-947-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/se-16-947-2025, 2025
Short summary

Cited articles

Alonso-Henar, J., Álvarez-Gómez, J. A., and Martínez-Díaz, J. J.: Constraints for the recent tectonics of the El Salvador Fault Zone, Central America Volcanic Arc, from morphotectonic analysis, Tectonophysics, 623, 1–13, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2014.03.012, 2014. 
Altamimi, Z., Rebischung, P., Métivier, L., and Collilieux, X.: ITRF2014: A new release of the International Terrestrial Reference Frame modeling nonlinear station motions, Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 121, 6109–6131, https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JB013098, 2016. 
Alvarado, D., DeMets, C., Tikoff, B., Hernández, D., Wawrzyniec, T. F., Pullinger, C., Mattioli, G., Turner, H. L., Rodriguez, M., and Correa-Mora, F.: Forearc motion and deformation between El Salvador and Nicaragua: GPS, seismic, structural, and paleomagnetic observations, Lithosphere, 3, 3–21, https://doi.org/10.1130/L108.1, 2011. 
Álvarez-Gómez, J. A., Meijer, P. T., Martínez-Díaz, J. J., and Capote, R.: Constraints from finite element modeling on the active tectonics of northern Central America and the Middle America Trench, Tectonics, 27, https://doi.org/10.1029/2007TC002162, 2008. 
Álvarez-Gómez, J. A., Staller, A., Martínez-Díaz, J., Canora, C., Alonso-Henar, J., Insua-Arévalo, J., and Bejar, M.: Push-pull driving of the Central America Forearc in the context of the Cocos-Caribbean-North America triple junction, Scientific Reports, 9, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-47617-3, 2019. 
Download
Short summary
We combined satellite radar and GPS data to model how the faults in El Salvador and nearby regions accumulate deformation. Motion across the central El Salvador Fault Zone is shared by several fault branches, while the offshore subduction zone appears to be weakly locked. These results improve the understanding of regional deformation and seismic hazard in Central America.
Share