LANDSLIDES IN COLOMBIA: COULD SIMILAR INCIDENTS HAPPEN AGAIN?

Landslides have caused damage in many cities and rural areas in Colombia as an active continental margin located next to the border of three tectonic plates such as Cocos, Nazca, and South American. On November 13, 1985, a landslide caused a terrible impact on two cities in Colombia. An increment of temperature under Arenas volcano’s chamber changed matter of a glacier ‘the Ruiz’ snowcapped mountain area. It had caused a debris flow to the East and the West as well. A geomorphologic control to the North and the South produces minimum debris flows.

An over-saturated mass flowed going down to the Magdalena Valley along Lagunilla Creek, covering about 95% of the total city called Armero, Tolima, killing more than 23,000 people. At the same time, another saturated mass flowed going down to the Western along Chinchiná Creek to the Cauca Valley; almost several hundred people were killed, some structures’ damage.

The crises were different because these towns have different topographic location and characteristics. Both negative events strongly affected our health system, authorities’ management, and diverse agencies showed unprepared level. The East area was covered for mud and many objects but visited for international and domestic health assistance. At the West area was not covered but fewer visitors and obviously less health assistance. Sociologically, we were not ready because the majority aid was conducted to the most dramatic place but not with superior necessity.

Colombian government analyzed different mitigation measures, since these kinds of flows are recurrent in the Central Cordillera as indicated through the geological history. After, the Colombian government passed Law 46 of 1988, formed the National System of Prevention and Attention of Disasters, improved the National Seismologic Net, and the Colombian Seismic Resistant Building’s Codes of 1984. However, it needs more analysis of natural, social, and technological hazards.

Finally, I will discuss the incident according to Mileti’s (1999) reflections and recommendations to mitigate incidents in the future. This paper is one part a literature review paper and other part as my expertise along the Magdalena Middle Valley Integrated Study as a technical agreement between Colombia and Germany governments.