Updated August 16, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. Colombia time
Julio Fierro Morales, director general of the Colombian Geological Service, attributes the magnitude 7.4 earthquake to a rupture within the Nazca plate as it descends beneath the South American plate. Its focus, near 103 kilometres deep, helps explain why the shaking was felt across a broad area.
A deep rupture within the Nazca plate
Fierro says depth allows waves to travel across a wider area. This should not be confused with local intensity: the 1999 Armenia earthquake, magnitude 6.1 but only about ten kilometres deep, produced very intense effects over a more concentrated area.
A one-minute rupture and variable perception
The rupture itself may have lasted about one minute. How long people felt motion depends on distance, soil and rock, and building behaviour. There is therefore no single duration that applies to everyone.
Predicting the time remains impossible
The SGC director says no reliable method can predict an earthquake’s date and time. Risk reduction depends on preparedness, drills and earthquake-resistant construction.
A building completed after 1984 offers only a clue about the rules that may have applied, not proof of safety. Colombian standards were subsequently updated in 1998 and 2010.
A seismically active region
Fierro cites nearby earthquakes in 1962, magnitude 6.5, and 1979, magnitude 7.2, as well as the magnitude 6.4 Cali earthquake in 1995. He establishes no link with the June earthquakes in Venezuela, which involved different tectonic interactions.