Carlos Galán said Bogotá had no reports of damage or structural harm after the earthquake in Bogota that shook Colombia at 7:34 a.m. on Monday, August 10. He said there were only some cracks in buildings.
The Servicio Geológico Colombiano said the quake measured magnitude 6.6 and occurred at a depth of 96 kilometers, with an epicenter in San José del Palmar, Chocó. People in Valledupar, Envigado, Bogotá, Bucaramanga, Villavicencio, Cúcuta, and Medellín felt it.
Carlos Galán in Bogotá
Galán’s account gave the clearest first read on conditions in the capital. He said there were no reports of damage or structural harm in Bogotá, using the phrase “solo algunas grietas en edificios,” which left the picture at the level of visible cracking rather than wider loss.
That is the difference residents in Bogotá were hearing for a reason: cracks can appear without a building being ruled unsafe, but they still send inspectors looking for hidden effects. The Instituto Distrital de Gestión de Riesgos y Cambio Climático began verification in all localities of Bogotá.
Servicio Geológico Colombiano
Julio Fierro, director of the SGC, placed the earthquake inside a broader pattern of seismic activity in Colombia. He said, “estamos en una zona sísmicamente activa(...) Hay que construir memoria y una cultura de lo que implica vivir en una zona sísmicamente activa”.
The SGC said the country’s seismic pattern reflects its geological and tectonic configuration, including contact between Nazca, Sudamérica, and Caribe. It also said most seismic activity is concentrated in the Pacific zone, while Los Santos is the place where 60% of earthquakes in Colombia occur.
UNGRD and local checks
The UNGRD said it was speaking with territorial authorities and entities of the Sistema Nacional de Gestión del Riesgo de Desastres to verify possible damage. That process moved at the same time as the local checks in Bogotá, with the city’s review focused on whether the cracks were isolated or part of broader effects.
The Red Sismológica Nacional has monitored seismic activity in Colombia for 30 years and has registered almost 300,000 seismic events in that period. The SGC also said the country averages 2,500 earthquakes per month, a scale that frames why Monday morning’s quake quickly turned into a verification effort rather than a single isolated report.
