BOGOTA: A moderately strong earthquake hit the center-west of Colombia on Friday, causing material damage and possibly contributing to causalities, authorities said.
John Makario London of the Colombian Geological Service said that at 6:26 am local time (1126 GMT) a shake of magnitude 5.6 was registered at a depth of thirty-three kilometers, located in the municipality of Ansermanuevo.
He said the intermediate magnitude earthquake caused cracks or damage to the facades of some buildings.
Authorities in the town of El Aguila, close to Ansermanuevo, reported the “possible death” of a woman.
Francisco Tenorio, the region’s secretary of risk management, told a media outlet that the town’s mayor reported damage to the local hospital and was verifying whether the death of a female was due to the quake.
Earthquakes in Colombia
Central Colombia is in a zone of high seismic activity. A 6.2 magnitude earthquake there in 1999, not far from Ansermanuevo, claimed about 1,200 lives.
