1967 Neiva earthquake
The 1967 Neiva earthquake occurred at 10:24 local time on February 9 in Colombia. The epicentre of the earthquake was located in San Vicente del Caguán in the department of Caquetá. The earthquake, associated with the Algeciras Fault, part of the megaregional Eastern Frontal Fault System, had a moment magnitude of 7.0 and an intensity of X and was felt in northwestern South America from Caracas to Iquitos and Buenaventura to Mitú. In the following months, 350 aftershocks were registered in the area. The earthquake produced 98 fatalities and approximately 600,000 USD in damage.
Description
While the earthquake is commonly referred to as the Neiva earthquake, the epicentre was not located in Neiva as first reported, or Algeciras as later reports state, yet in San Vicente del Caguán in northern Caquetá. The earthquake had a moment magnitude of 7.0 and an intensity of VIII. The earthquake was felt from Caracas in Venezuela in the north to Iquitos in Peru in the south and from Buenaventura in southwestern Colombia in the west to Mitú, at the border with Brazil in the east. In the three days after the earthquake twenty aftershocks were felt and the seismological observation centre of Bogotá registered 350 aftershocks in the next month.Activity of the Algeciras Fault, a dextral strike-slip fault and segment of the megaregional Eastern Frontal Fault System that forms the boundary between the North Andes and South American Plates, is associated with the earthquake. The earthquake manifested surface rupturing or cracking in the vicinity of El Paraíso, which is situated on the fault trace northeast of Algeciras.