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 purest Spanish colonial style.
Geology
The earthquake occurred in the Mérida 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 the Boconó Fault. Paleoseismic studies of the Aguas Calientes Fault System at the presumed earthquake epicenter revealed evidence of recent surface 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]
Death toll
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] The Evening Post wrote that 5,000 died outright with a further 9,000 dying from the after effects such as fever and lockjaw.[7]
^Rodríguez, Luz; Diederix, Hans; Torres, Eliana; Audemard, Franck; Hernández, Catalina; Singer, André; Bohórquez, Olga; Yepez, Santiago (2018). "Identification of the seismogenic source of the 1875 Cucuta earthquake on the basis of a combination of neotectonic, paleoseismologic and historic seismicity studies". Journal of South American Earth Sciences. 82: 274–291. Bibcode:2018JSAES..82..274R. doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2017.09.019.
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. Retrieved 29 October 2019.