There have been more than 2,000 earthquakes in the volcanic complex of Chiles Cerro Negro, on the border with Ecuador

The Chiles volcano, located on the border of Colombia and Ecuador, Since Thursday, March 9, it has recorded a swarm of over 2,000 earthquakes, the largest of which measured 3.4 degrees in magnitude, according to a report by the Geophysical Institute (IG) of the National Polytechnic of Ecuador.

The series of tremors began at 11 a.m. around the volcano, captured by both the sister country’s IG and the Pasto Volcanological and Seismological Observatory.

The 3.4 magnitude earthquake was reported as felt, mainly in the Andean province of Carchi, border with Colombia.

This seismic phenomenon It has already occurred in mid-2022 in the volcanic complex formed by the Chiles volcano and Cerro Negro on the border between Colombia and Ecuador, 25 kilometers west of the Ecuadorian city of Tulcán . and 32 kilometers in the same direction from Ipiales.

It is The complex is made up of two volcanic edifices: El Chiles (4,748 meters above sea level), to the east; and Cerro Negro (4,470 meters above sea level), West.

Both volcanoes have a long eruptive history of almost a million years, during which the composition of its lavas varied from andesites to dacites, and in the case of Cerro Negro, explosive events are included.

Together with those of Nevado del Ruiz, Puracé and Cerro Machín, this complex of craters in the south of the country has moderate activity that is constantly monitored by experts, As explained to GlobeLiveMedia Colombia John Makario Londoño Bonilla, director of Geothreats of the Colombian Geological Service (SGC).

During the last years raises concerns and is being monitored by authorities in both countries. Currently it is recording activity, which has increased since five years ago when it caused a high impact earthquake which has weakened certain structures in the neighboring country.

“In 2018, there was a very big earthquake in July which damaged many houses in the Ecuadorian part. Not in Colombia fortunately, but it was an earthquake almost close to 6 And this volcano is also very active, only it slows down sometimes, so to speak, because it constantly speeds up and slows down the activity,” the expert added.

Around 4:18 a.m. on Friday March 10, an earthquake was reported in Colombia that woke up the inhabitants of the capital of the Republic, Medellín and Bucaramangaespecially in high-rise buildings where this type of natural phenomenon tends to be felt more strongly.

The Colombian Geological Service has indicated that it has a magnitude of 5.9 degrees on the Richter scale and with a depth of 151 kilometers. Once again, the epicenter was La Mesa de los Santos.

Fortunately, The telluric movement did not cause serious effects in the main cities of the country, although it caused some specific events in the municipality of San Gil.

Although the experts in seismology they reiterate that there is no correlation, on the same date, but eight years ago another slightly stronger earthquake was reported with a magnitude of 6.4 degrees and with a depth of 157 kilometers.

The consequences of this event included 42 houses destroyed and assignments of various types in at least 196 others. Health centres, schools and churches were also affected. Communications in different parts of the country were interrupted, as well as mobility in various departments.

“From a scientific point of view, these dates have no correlation”, highlighted the Colombian geological system. The above means that the date is nothing special, it would just be a coincidence.

(With information from EFE)