1999 Armenia, Colombia earthquake
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| Date | January 25, 1999 |
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| Magnitude | 6.2 Mw |
| Depth | 17 km (11 mi) |
| Epicenter | 4°30′N 75°42′W / 4.5°N 75.7°WCoordinates: 4°30′N 75°42′W / 4.5°N 75.7°W |
| Areas affected | Colombia |
| Peak acceleration | 0.55 g |
| Casualties | 1,900 dead |
The 1999 Armenia, Colombia earthquake occurred on 25 January at 13:19 with an epicenter 25 miles (40 km) west south west of Ibagué, Colombia. The shock heavily affected the city of Armenia, Colombia in the Quindío department, and about 18 other towns and 28 additional villages in the Colombian Coffee-Growers Axis region departments, and to a lesser degree, the cities of Pereira and Manizales. The earthquake had a magnitude of 6.2 on the moment magnitude scale and was the strongest earthquake to strike Colombia for 16 years.
This area has a well known high seismic risk, due to the triple junction that occurs at the northwest corner of the South American Plate where the Nazca, Cocos, and Pacific plates converge. About 60% of the existent poorly engineered structures in Armenia collapsed, due to the high amount of old structures, built without technical requirements and the lack of urban planning and land studies.
The earthquake hit Colombia's coffee-growing region, and toppled tower blocks, hotels, and historic churches in Armenia. Most of the buildings that collapsed were old and poorly constructed, or were built on poor soil such as old landfill sites or steep slopes. The newer structures, for the most part, survived intact due to safety measures being established in 1984.
The worst hit part of the country were regional capitals of Armenia and Pereira. In Armenia, about 10 miles (17 km) south of the epicentre, single-story homes were demolished by the seismological event.
The initial earthquake produced a rough casualty estimate of about 1000 people. The first (17:40) aftershock produced a still indeterminate number of victims among the people trying to remove their goods from the semi-collapsed structures. The corpses that were retrieved were carried to the local University of Quindío auditorium to be identified by their relatives. Since the forensic services were out, many of them could not be recognized and were buried in common tombs.
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