Key facts
- A magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck Colombia's Pacific coast.
- The earthquake was felt in Bogota and as far as the Venezuelan border.
- Injuries and significant damage were reported in Quibdo, Choco province.
A magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck Colombia's Pacific coast on August 10, with its epicenter near San Jose del Palmar in Choco province. The tremor occurred at 7:34 a.m. at a depth of 79 km and was felt across the country, including in Bogota and as far as the Venezuelan border.
Governor Nubia Carolina Cordoba-Curi reported injuries and significant building damage in Quibdo, the capital of Choco province. The National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD) was assessing the damage.
This event occurs in a region prone to seismic activity. Latin America sits atop a complex network of fault lines and has experienced some of the world's most destructive earthquakes. A factbox provided a list of the region's 10 deadliest earthquakes, including the 2010 Haiti earthquake (magnitude 7.0, 316,000 deaths) and the 1868 Ecuador-Colombia earthquakes (magnitude 7.7, 70,000 deaths). The article also noted devastating twin quakes in neighboring Venezuela in June that killed more than 6,000 people.