The United States Geological Survey (USGS) registered it with magnitude 6.3 and at a depth of 10 kilometers.
“Strong tremor in Bogotá (…) Please let’s take all precautionary measures against possible aftershocks. Calm, serenity and caution,” said the mayor of the capital, Claudia López, on the X social network.
According to the local president, so far there are only “reports of people trapped in elevators and other minor events. Nothing serious.”
According to users on social networks, the movement was also strongly felt in Villavicencio, Bucaramanga, Tunja, Ibagué and other cities near the epicenter.
The central Plaza de Bolívar, next to the presidential headquarters in Bogotá, quickly filled with people who came running from neighboring buildings, according to images posted on social networks.
“It was strong, it was long. All my colleagues stood up and looked at each other saying, what do we do?” Adrián Alarcón, 43, a project designer for food and chemicals, told the Reuters agency. “It makes me feel fragile. Life changes you in a second. You can’t do anything, just run and save your life,” he said in a park in the north of Bogotá, where dozens of evacuees gathered.
About 10 minutes after the first event, the geological center registered an aftershock with an epicenter in the city of Villavicencio, in the same department, this time of magnitude 5.6.
The aftershock occurred as dozens of people evacuated buildings in the capital.
“It was verified in the municipality of Calvario, Meta, the evacuation of the entire municipality was carried out, only the windows of homes and establishments were affected,” said a person in charge of the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD) in a chat journalists.
According to the same source, in Villavicencio “landslides are reported” and they are “verifying more damage.”
The center of Colombia has great seismic activity and there is one of the main geological faults in the country.
With information from AFP and Reuters