Magnitude 6.8 Mw Casualties ~1,100 Date 6 June 1994 | Areas affected Colombia Depth 12,000 m | |
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Similar 1875 Cúcuta earthquake, 1979 Tumaco earthquake, 1906 Ecuador–Colombia earthquake, 1999 Armenia - Colombia, 1994 Northridge earthquake | ||
The 1994 Paez river earthquake occurred on June 6 with a moment magnitude of 6.8 at a depth of 12 km (7.5 mi). The event, which is also known as the Paez river disaster, included subsequent landslides and mudslides that destroyed the small town of Paez, located on the foothills of the Central Cordillera of the Andes in Cauca Department in south-western Colombia.[1] It was estimated that 1,100 people, mostly from the Paez ethnia, were killed in some 15 settlements on the Paez River basin, Cauca and Huila departments of which the eponymous town of Paez suffered 50% of the death toll.[2][3] In response to the disaster, the government created the Nasa Kiwe Corporation to bring relief to the area, and begin the reconstruction of the affected areas.