An earthquake registered at a magnitude of 7.0 on Feb. 9 shook at least 66 cities in Colombia, the U.S. Geological Survey reported in an email alert.
An earthquake of that magnitude in Colombia is considered very strong with a moderate-to-strong chance of structural damages.
"Damage (is) negligible in buildings of good design and construction,” according to the USGS, “slight to moderate in well-built ordinary structures; considerable damage in poorly built or badly designed structures; some chimneys broken."
The earthquake was recorded at 6:16 a.m. PST. It was 9:16 a.m. Ecuador time, near the epicenter
The epicenter was about 65 below the surface at 1.143N 77.362W. The location is about seven miles southwest of Pasto, 104 miles south-southwest of Popayan, 108 miles east-southeast of Tumaco and 123 miles from the city of Quito in Ecuador.
"During the last 20 years, cities as Popayan, Pereira and Armenia have been affected by great, shallow earthquakes,” according to the USGS. “Regional seismic hazard studies began after of the Popayan earthquake, which occurred March 31, 1983, and the first national building code was developed and adopted in 1984."
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