  | |
| UTC time | 1875-05-18 |
|---|---|
| Local date | 18 May 1875 (1875-05-18) |
| Local time | 11:15 |
| Magnitude | Mw 6.75 |
| Epicenter | 7°54′N72°30′W / 7.9°N 72.5°W /7.9; -72.5 |
| Areas affected | Colombia,Venezuela |
| Casualties | ~10,000 |
The1875 Cúcuta earthquake (also known asearthquake of the Andes) occurred on 18 May at 11:15 AM. It completely demolishedCúcuta,Villa del Rosario (Colombia),San Antonio del Tachira andCapacho (Venezuela). The earthquake killed many Venezuelans inSan Cristóbal,La Mulata,Rubio,Michelena,La Grita,Colón, amongst others, and was felt in bothBogotá andCaracas.
That day, the city ofCúcuta and the town ofVilla del Rosario, in theNorte de Santander department (Colombia) and the municipalities ofSan Antonio del Táchira andCapacho,Táchira State (Venezuela) were destroyed totally by this catastrophic earthquake.Villa del Rosario was a historical and calm population. In 1821 had met in the main church (Historic church) to means to construct, the members of the First Congress of the Great Colombia, known asCongress of Cúcuta.
Still it is observed the rest of the church that collapse during the great seismic movement, the houses of that time in the zone were of the purestSpanish colonial style.
The earthquake occurred in theMérida Andes and scientists proposed it was associated with rupture on the Aguas Calientes Fault System or faults in the Cucuta graben. The Aguas Calientes Fault System is a northwestern extension of theBoconó Fault.Paleoseismic studies of the Aguas Calientes Fault System at the presumed earthquake epicenter revealed evidence of recentsurface rupture. The central part of the Aguas Calientes Fault System was the likely source of the event. Its moment magnitude is estimated at Mw 6.75.[1]
The exact number of victims is not known;Spokane Daily Chronicle reported that the figure was as many as 2,500,[2] while other sources say that the death toll was about 1,000.[3][4] Early newspaper reports put the number at 8 to 10,000.[5][6] TheEvening Post wrote that 5,000 died outright with a further 9,000 dying from the after effects such asfever andlockjaw.[7]
The earthquake covered 5 degrees ofLatitude and was 500 miles long.[8] Populated areas affected wereVilla of the Rosary,San Luis,Salazar,Woods of the Palms,Gramalote,Bochalema andSan Faustino inColombia.San Antonio,Capacho,San Cristóbal, theMulata, Rubio,Michelena,La Grita,Colón inVenezuela. In addition it was also felt inBogotá andCaracas.
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| Sources | Paris, Gabriel; Machette, Michael N.; Dart, Richard L.; Haller, Kathleen M. (2000).Map and Database of Quaternary Faults and Folds in Colombia and its Offshore Regions(PDF).USGS. pp. 1–66. Retrieved20 June 2017. Gómez Tapias, Jorge; Montes Ramírez, Nohora E.; Almanza Meléndez, María F.; Alcárcel Gutiérrez, Fernando A.; Madrid Montoya, César A.; Diederix, Hans (2015).Geological Map of Colombia.Servicio Geológico Colombiano. pp. 1–212. Retrieved29 October 2019. Various authors (2014).Enciclopedia de desastres naturales históricos de Colombia(PDF).Universidad del Quindío. pp. 1–21. Retrieved20 June 2017. | ||||||||||
