This catastrophe has claimed 1,185 lives, left 4,750 injured and 3,900 missing. Many corpses could not be recognised and so, were buried in common tombs. The colombian coffee industry was badly affected by the earthquake. An estimated 8,000 coffee farms have been destroyed. Tower blocks, historic churches and hotels were also reduced to wreckage. In addition, about 13,000 buildings of several kinds including enterprises and industries were damaged and were either temporarily or permanently out of service. Banks and financial entities could not withdraw money for the following few weeks as a result. Also, the survivors of the earthquake had to follow curfews set by the Colombian authorities. As a result of slow relief efforts, the suvivors of the earthquake broke into food stores and resorted to stealing food. There were also 14 detected aftershocks, the strongest is of 5.4 magnitude.

The Colombian president, Andres Pastrana, postponed a trip to Germany to attend a World Bank meeting to address the situation of Colombia after the massive earthquake. To restore order, he sent soldiers to the affected areas. In 2002, a new community was built and an ecological park was created.

I think there is no fool-proof way to avoid the damage of the earthquakes but the Colombian president could have improved the structure of the buildings in Colombia because 60% of the buildings were badly built and this might have led to the deaths of many. I think the Colombian president could also have conducted nation-wide drills to prepare the citizens for any emergency in future. In addition, I think the president should also emphasise on the importance of being ready and vigilant in case of emergency and encourage citizens to prepare a first-aid kit to prepare for any unpredicted crises.

Websites:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_Armenia,_Colombia_earthquake#Economic_impact%20http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/25/newsid_2506000/2506407.stm