UNGRD’s director said that in the municipalities of ParaTebueno, Medina, Sibaté and Tocaima, all in Cundinamarca, walls collapsed, and in Cumaral (Meta) and Pácora (Caldas), the earthquake reached cracks in homes
Ode magnitude 6.5 on the Richter scale that hit the center of Sunday morning (8) left at least four And caused light material damage in several municipalities of the Cundinamarca Department near Epicenter, the government said. The tremor, which took place at 8:08 am (local time, 10:08 am Brasília), with epicenter in the city of Paratebueno (Cundinamar), in the center of the country, had a 10 -kilometer “superficial depth”, confirmed the Colombian Geological Service (SGC).
“We have four injured, two in ParaTebueno and two in Medina. These people have light injuries and are being treated at local health centers,” Carlos Carrillo, director of the National Disaster Risk Management Unit (UNGRD), said at a news conference in Bogota. He stated that the earthquake was felt in 20 of the country’s 32 departments, but there are reports only light damage in Cundinamar, whose capital is Bogota, as well as in Meta and Caldas, all in central Colombia.
“Bogota reports normality,” added Carrillo, quoting the City Hall of the Colombian capital, where the earthquake forced thousands of people who still slept to leave their homes, many hours even pajamas. The director of UNGRD added that in the municipalities of ParaTebueno, Medina, Sibaté and Tocaima, all in Cundinamarca, walls collapsed without further consequences, and in Cumaral (Goal) and Pacora (Caldas), the earthquake reached cracks in some houses.
The tremor also opened cracks on stretches of the federal highway that goes from Villavicencio, the capital capital, Yopal, Casanare’s capital, added. “From the occurrence of the main earthquake to 10:55 (local time), 138 secondary tremors were recorded, located in ParaTebueno and adjacent areas, with varied magnitudes. Two secondary tremors were larger than 4 and ten larger than 3.5, with depths of about 10 miles,” explained the Colombian geological service.
The SGC has announced that these secondary tremors “may still continue to occur due to the energy released by the main earthquake. However, the magnitude and frequency of these events is expected to decrease over the days.” In fact, at 11:30 (local time), a 4.9 magnitude earthquake was registered in the same area, according to the CGS.
*With information from EFE
Posted by Carolina Ferreira
