El Salvador was badly shaken by a 5.1 earthquake just before 6 p.m. yesterday, Monday, April 10.

The quake was the strongest in a series of hundreds tremors that began Sunday and lasted until this morning, reported the Salvadoran Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MARN).

Due to the proximity of the “seismic swarm” to the San Salvador metropolitan area, authorities decided to monitor the nearby San Salvador volcano for any changes in activity. So far, none have been detected.

“At the moment there is no indication of lava movement in the subsoil, measurements were made and everything is normal,” said Manuel Díaz, geology manager at MARN.

On Tuesday, Environment Minister Lina Pohl said this phenomenon is normal in the country, and added, “The seismic swarm is not related to the San Salvador volcano, but is due to a system of faults.”

The earthquake so far has caused one fatality and two injuries when the movements loosened a rock along the Pan-American highway, causing it to fall on a vehicle. Police identified the deceased as Oscar Balmore Labor, 26.

The epicenter of the strong quake was recorded at a depth of 4 km in the municipality of Antiguo Cuscatlán, 10 km west of San Salvador, said AFP reports.

According to Pohl, San Salvador has experienced 18 seismic swarms since the country’s most destructive event in recent history when on October 10, 1986 a 5.7 magnitude quake caused between 1,000 – 1,500 lives lost, at least 10,000 injured, and 200,000 to lose their homes.

The Minister asked the public to stay calm, as none of the seismic swarms over the past 30 years have been followed by a major earthquake.