Colombia Quake Damages Buildings, But Only One Injury
A strong earthquake that rocked northeastern Colombia damaged some 300 buildings but injured only one person, an official assessment said Wednesday.
Most of the damage from Tuesday's quake occurred near the epicenter in the province of Santander.
The U.S. Geological Survey put the quake's intensity at 6.2 on the Moment Magnitude scale, while the Colombian Geological Survey gave a reading of 6.6 on the Richter scale.
It shattered windows of an airport control tower in the regional capital, Bucaramanga, and 140 buildings were damaged in the hardest hit town of Betunia, a government statement said.
The only known casualty was a pedestrian hurt in the neighboring town of Los Santos who was treated at a hospital in Bucaramanga, but is "out of danger," the report said.
Elsewhere, damage was reported to airports in Bogota and Cali, but flights were not affected.
Colombia, like other Andean countries, is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where about 85 percent of the world's seismic activity is concentrated.
Source: Agence France Presse
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