December 22, 1923 Earthquake: Gachala,gacheta,ubala,medina, Colombia
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck Gachala,gacheta,ubala,medina, Colombia on December 22, 1923 at 09:55:35 UTC, 15 km below the surface. It killed 7 people.
Map
Where it struck, with the other significant earthquakes within 200 km. Circles are sized and colored by magnitude; select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Date
- December 22, 1923
- Time
- 09:55:35 UTC
- Place
- Gachala,gacheta,ubala,medina, Colombia
- Magnitude
- 5.9 (Mw)
- Focal depth
- 15 km (9 mi)
- Intensity
- 8 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 4.640° N, 73.360° W
- Country
- Colombia
The toll
- Deaths
- 7
- Damage
- Severe (about $5 to $25 million)
- Houses destroyed
- Some (about 51 to 100)
- Houses damaged
- Many (101 to 1,000)
Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
22 Dec 1923, 04:55:35, 7 deaths (reference #1118)
22 Dec 1923, 09:55:35 (UTC), 5.5N 73.2W, magnitude 5.5 (Ms) (reference #1205)
22 Dec 1923, 04:56 (local time), 4.64N 73.36W, magnitude 5.9 (Mw), depth 15 (reference #12870)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- June 16, 1805, Honda,mariquita, Colombia
- July 12, 1785, Bogota,engativa,caxica,soacha, Colombia
- January 19, 1995, Bogota, Manizales, Miraflores, Colombia
- May 24, 2008, Meta, Quetame, Colombia
- September 4, 1966, Colombia
- August 31, 1917, Bogota, Ubaque, Soacha, Caqueza, Colombia
- August 17, 2023, Bogota, Boyaca, Cundinamarca, Meta,, Colombia
- June 8, 2025, Cundinamarca, Colombia
- October 18, 1743, Bogota, Colombia
- June 18, 1826, Engativa,bogota,ramiriqui,umbita,tunja, Colombia
- September 18, 1900, Colombia
- August 8, 1903, Colombia
- July 11, 1906, Colombia
- July 14, 1906, Colombia
- May 22, 1942, Colombia
More
Significant earthquakes of 1923The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1923Recent earthquakes near hereThis day in weather history
Sources
Significant earthquakes from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-09-24. NCEI earthquake 3241.