List of earthquakes in Colombia


This is a list of earthquakes in Colombia. Colombia is a seismically active country and has a large seismic risk in many areas of its territory due to its location at the boundaries of the Malpelo, Panama, Caribbean, North Andes and South American Plates along the Pacific Ring of Fire. The southeastern and extreme eastern portions of Colombia are not as seismically active as the rest of the country.
The first historically registered earthquake felt in Colombia occurred on September 11, 1530, around 10:00 AM, probably with the epicentre near Cumaná, Venezuela. The earthquake was documented by Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés in his work La Historia general de las Indias and by friar Bartolomé de las Casas in his book Historia de Las Indias. The first documented earthquake with its epicentre in present-day Colombia territory took place in 1566, with the epicentre estimated around Santander in the department of Cauca. Other important historical earthquakes have been documented by Luis Vargas Jurado, from 1703 until 1764 and Santiago Pérez Valencia between 1785 and 1843.
The most devastating earthquake for Colombia happened on August 15 and 16, 1868 off the coast of Ecuador, leading to approximately 70,000 fatalities. The strongest earthquake, with an estimated moment magnitude of 8.8 also happened offshore Ecuador in 1906. Other major earthquakes were the 1875 Cúcuta earthquake with around 10,000 deaths and the 1999 Armenia earthquake with an intensity of X. The deepest registered earthquake happened in the department of Amazonas in 1970 at an estimated depth of almost. The 1785 Viceroyalty of New Granada earthquake sparked the birth of journalism in Colombia, initiated by Manuel del Socorro Rodríguez, six years after the publication of the Aviso del Terremoto about the earthquake with its epicentre in La Calera, Cundinamarca.
The main seismically active zone is the subduction zone of the Malpelo, formerly Nazca, Plate with strong earthquakes in 1906, 1947, 1958 and 1979. The most active onshore fault systems are the Bucaramanga-Santa Marta Fault with earthquakes frequently occurring at the Bucaramanga Nest around Aratoca, Santander, the Romeral Fault System in the Central Ranges and the long Eastern Frontal Fault System in the Eastern Ranges. Other strong earthquakes are associated with the Murindó, Irlanda, Tucurá, Bahía Solano, and Mutatá Faults.

Major historical earthquakes

Note: out of many, only earthquakes of Mw 6.0 and higher, deadly, important historical, and unusual earthquakes are included in this list

Magnitudes - Mw Moment magnitude scale, ML Richter magnitude scale, Ms Surface wave magnitude, ? Unknown scale
YearDateTime
Place
bold is fault		NamePlateDepth
FatalitiesMMITsunamiMapNotes
1646April 302:00-03:00Muzo-La Palma
Boyacá
Cundinamarca		1646 MuzoNorth Andes"dozens"IXNo
1743October 18Chingaza Páramo, Cundinamarca1743 ChingazaNorth Andes20"several"6.30 ± 0.35 B&W97IXNo
1785July 1207:45La Calera, Cundinamarca1785 Viceroyalty of New GranadaNorth Andes20-3096.9 MsVIIINo
1827November 1622:45Timaná, Huila1827 TimanáNorth Andes102507.7 MsXNo
1834January 2012:00Sibundoy, Sibundoy, Putumayo1834 SibundoyNorth Andes5807.0 ?IXNo
1868August 15
August 16		14:30
01:30		Ecuador, Colombia1868 EcuadorNorth Andes2070,0006.3 and 6.7 MsXNo
1875May 1816:25Cúcuta1875 CúcutaNorth Andes2010,0007.5 ?IXNo
1906January 3115:36Esmeraldas 1906 Ecuador–ColombiaMalpelo20.01,000~8.8 Mw 8.6 MLVIIIYes
1917August 3111:36Acacías, Meta1917 SumapazNorth Andes4067.3 MsVIINo
1936January 909:23Túquerres1936 TúquerresNorth Andes<302507.0 ?VIIINo
1952February 1416:02Tucurá, Pavarandocito, Antioquia1952 PavarandocitoNorth Andes446.75 MwNo
1958January 1914:07Ecuador, Colombia1958 Ecuador–ColombiaNorth Andes40-601117.8 Mw 7.6 MLVIIIYes
1962July 3015:18Aranzazu, Caldas1962 AranzazuNorth Andes6950~6.8 MwVIIINo
1967February 915:24Algeciras, Algeciras, Huila1967 NeivaNorth Andes55.0987.2 Mw 6.8 MLVIIINo
1967July 2905:24Bucaramanga, Aratoca, Santander1967 AratocaNorth Andes161.26.8 MwIVNo
1970July 3117:08Amazonas1970 ColombiaSouth American644.818.0 Mw 7.7 MLIVNo
1970September 2622:38Bahía Solano, Bahía Solano, Chocó1970 Bahía SolanoNorth Andes15.06.5 MwVII
1975January 2421:08Chocó1975 ChocóPanama36.06.5 MsVII
1979November 2318:40El Cairo1979 El CairoNorth Andes108.0447.2 Mw 6.7 MLVIINo
1979December 1207:59Tumaco1979 TumacoNorth Andes336008.1 MsIXYes
1983March 3108:15Rosas-Julumito, Popayán1983 PopayánNorth Andes12.03005.5 MLVIIINo
1987March 5
March 6		20:54, 23:10
03:14		Ecuador, Colombia1987 Ecuador-ColombiaNorth Andes8.5
14.1		1,000
4,000+ missing		6.0-7.2 MwVIINo
1991November 1917:28Chocó1991 ChocóNorth Andes21.37.2 MwIX
1992October 1810:11Murindó, Murindó, Antioquia1992 MurindóNorth Andes10.07.2 MwVIIINo
1994June 620:47Irlanda, Páez1994 Páez RiverNorth Andes121,1006.8 MwVIINo
1995January 1910:05Guaicáramo, Tauramena1995 TauramenaNorth Andes17.366.0 ML 6.5 MwVIINo
1995February 813:40Cali1995 CaliNorth Andes73.5356.4 MwVNo
1996November 412:24Chocó1996 Colombia-PanamaPanama14.06.3 MwVIIINo
1999January 2518:19Córdoba-Navarco, Armenia1999 ArmeniaNorth Andes17.01,9006.1 MwXNo
2004November 1504:06Bajo Baudó, Pacific Ocean, Chocó2004 Bajo BaudóNorth Andes15.006.7 ML 7.2 MwVIII
2007September 920:49Gorgona Island2007 Gorgona IslandNorth Andes15.05 injured / 34 homes damaged6.8 MwVII
2008May 2419:20El Calvario2008 El CalvarioNorth Andes35115.9 MwVIINo
2012September 3011:31La Vega2012 La VegaNorth Andes17007.3 MwVIINo
2013February 909:16Yacuanquer, Nariño2013 NariñoNorth Andes14506.9 MwVINo
2013August 1310:43Chocó2013 ChocóCoiba12.006.7 MwV
2015March 1015:55Bucaramanga, Aratoca, Santander2015 SantanderNorth Andes15506.2 MwVINo
2016April 1618:58Ecuador, Colombia2016 Ecuador-ColombiaNorth Andes20.66767.8 MwIXNo
2016September 1320:58Mutatá, Mutatá, Antioquia2016 MutatáNorth Andes18.006.0 MwVINo
2018June 1204:35Pasto, Nariño2018 PastoNorth Andes10.024.9 MwVINo