Colombia earthquake has killed at least 132. My research helps explain why it was so destructive

A magnitude seven point four earthquake near San José del Palmar in Colombia's Chocó region has killed at least one hundred thirty-two people, a toll officials expect to rise as search and rescue continues and thousands of damaged or collapsed homes are assessed across Cali, Manizales, and Pereira. The U.S. Geological Survey says the quake stemmed from strike-slip faulting roughly one hundred ten kilometers underground. As The Conversation explains, structural engineering research helps show why Monday's quake was so destructive: many Colombian buildings use concrete walls only seven to ten centimeters thick, reinforced with just a single, brittle layer of wire mesh that offers little resistance to violent shaking. That same lightly-reinforced design was permitted under Australian building codes until a 2018 revision, meaning older structures built before then could prove similarly vulnerable in a major quake.

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