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The United States Geological Survey reported a magnitude 6.3 earthquake at a shallow depth of 9 kilometers with an epicenter near Paratebueno in Cundinamarca department at 08:08 local time on June 8 2025. Shaking registered a maximum intensity of eight on the Modified Mercalli scale in the hardest-hit towns including Paratebueno and Medina while reaching moderate levels in Bogota and Villavicencio. The event prompted building evacuations across central Colombia with tremors felt more than 100 kilometers from the origin point.
Colombian authorities placed the total number of injuries at 31 most of them in rural communities closest to the epicenter with no fatalities recorded in initial assessments. The International Charter on Space and Major Disasters activation documented widespread structural failures in multiple municipalities following the main shock and subsequent aftershocks. Emergency responders focused initial efforts on the most affected zones in Cundinamarca and adjacent areas.
Paratebueno sustained the collapse of 134 houses along with damage to 250 others six schools a church a highway and a triggered landslide according to official tallies. In the village of Santa Cecilia nearly 90 percent of structures were damaged or destroyed including the complete collapse of one school. These figures come from post-event surveys conducted by national disaster agencies.
Medina saw 45 homes collapse and 110 more damaged in addition to impacts on 15 schools and three churches local inventories showed. Additional effects included damaged buildings power lines and cracked roads in towns such as Tocaima San Juan de Rioseco Mosquera and between Villavicencio and Yopal. In Bogota more than 150 buildings experienced minor damage with widespread but short-lived power outages Mayor Carlos Galan reported via social media.
The Colombian Geological Service and national disaster response bodies coordinated rapid evaluations across the impacted region. Galan added that one person received treatment for an anxiety attack while several residents were temporarily trapped in elevators with services restored promptly in the capital. Preliminary updates from multiple agencies confirmed the absence of deaths despite significant property losses.
Tectonic studies attribute such events in Colombia to the subduction of the Nazca plate beneath the North Andes plate a boundary responsible for multiple historical earthquakes according to USGS assessments. The 2025 quake follows similar moderate events in recent years including those in Meta and Cundinamarca that highlighted vulnerabilities in non-engineered rural construction. Monitoring data indicated four aftershocks the largest at magnitude 4.9 that continued to affect the area in the hours and days afterward.
