POPAYAN, the white city in COLOMBIA, 35 YEARS after the EARTHQUAKE

The case of Popayan City earthquake

On 31st March 1983, an earthquake with 5,5 Mw (VIII Mercalli intensity) at a hypocentral depth between 12 and 15 Km, and at an epicentre, 46 km to the Southwest of Popayan in Colombia, struck the city (439,257 inhabitants). Popayán is the capital of the department of Cauca, Colombia (Figure 1).

Figure 1 Location of Popayan, Colombia.

This earthquake, caused extensive damage to the historical city centre, resulting in 300 fatalities; 7,500 individuals injured; 14,000 buildings damaged, and more than 10,000 people rendered homeless. In addition, 2,470 houses collapsed; 6,885 houses experienced 50% damage in their structure while 4,500 experienced minor damages. The high degree of damage was due in part to relatively strong shaking for an earthquake of its size, as well as to the high physical vulnerability of the houses built of unreinforced masonry and adobe, and the lack of maintenance of wooden beams and roofs. The President of Colombia at the time, Belisario Betancur Cuartas, who was visiting a town nearby by chance, established the Emergency Response Coordination Center right after the event at the Monasterio Hotel (see Figure 2 a and b).

Figure 2 Hotel Monasterio in Popayan, Colombia; a) External façade and b) Inner courtyard. Photos: Diana Contreras.

Popayan was founded in 1537. This city is known for the lavish religious ceremonies during Easter Week with long processions, in which participants who belong to the traditional families carry religious statues around the town. This city is known in Colombia as the “white city” because of the white colour of the façade of the houses located in its historic city centre, usually decorated with lanterns, typical of the Spanish colonial architecture, as depicted in Figure 3 (a,b,c,d).

Figure [if supportFields]><span style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:107%; font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA'> SEQ Figure \* ARABIC <![endif]3[if supportFields]><span style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA;mso-no-proof:yes'><![endif] Historical city center in Popayan, Colombia. Photos: Diana Contreras.

Several churches are located in the city center such as the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption (see Figure 4a), the chapel of Jesus Nazareno (see Figure 4b) as well as the churches dedicated to Santo Domingo (Figure 4c), San Francisco, San José and San Agustín, and the sanctuary of Belén. The most of these churches were severely damaged due to the earthquake.

Figure 3 Historical city center in Popayan, Colombia. Photos: Diana Contreras.

Pictures of the damages due to the earthquake at:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jmarbol/505822422

by José M. Arboleda

Popayan is located in a high hazard seismic zone. Strong earthquakes struck this city in 1736, 1885, 1906 and 1967. Nevertheless, the earthquake of 1983 is especially remembered because it occurred during Easter Week. The churches, built of unreinforced masonry, were full of parishioners who were attending the religious services at the time of the earthquake. This event increased the number of exposed people and therefore the number of casualties. This event also marked an important milestone in the history of disaster management in Colombia, because it showed the need to formulate a building code for the country. One year later, in 1984, the legislative body enacted the first Colombian Seismic Code (Decree 1400, 1984).

According to the inhabitants of the city, the recovery period took seven years. Historical buildings such as the Guillermo Leon Valencia Theater needed more time to be reconstructed, supported by funding assistance from the Czech Republic and the Japanese government. Inhabitants complain that, during the relief phase, people from other cities in Colombia arrived in Popayán to receive the grants that were originally intended for those affected by the earthquake. That is why is important to carry out Damage and Need Assessment (DANA) right after this kind of events, to be sure that the proper support and humanitarian aid arrive at the affected people.Locals claim they did not get the support of the government due to lack of information, and many decided to leave because they considered that the city would never recover.

At the time, many owners with mortgages could no longer afford to pay their loans because they had lost their jobs due to business interruptions brought about by the earthquake. Soon after, the city started to grow on its outskirts without much planning, and along with it, the problems related to delinquency and unemployment. These problems correspond to an emerging vulnerability that must be addressed during the early recovery and recovery phase in the post-disaster period in order to ensure the continuity of business to prevent unemployment, forced evictions and in general the increase of social vulnerability in an urban area already struck by an earthquake.

Popayan, 35 years after

Nowadays, 35 years after the earthquake and more than one year after the Peace Agreement between the Colombian Government and the FARC guerilla (2016), Popayan is again a tourist attraction. In the historic center you can visit the religious monuments (see Figure 5a), the House of Culture of El Cauca (see Figure 5b), The small Patojo town, which is a scaled model of the historic city center of Popayan (See Figure 5c) and The humiliation bridge, a bridge that, due to the steepness of the steps, makes everyone seems to go up on his or her knees (see figure 5d).

Figure 4. Churches in the historical city center of Popayan (Colombia), 35 years after the earthquake; a) Cathedral Our Lady of the Assumption, b) the hermitage of Jesús Nazareno and c) Santo Domingo Church. Photos: Diana Contreras.

Besides visiting the beautiful historic centre, tourists can also visit Silvia, which is an indigenous town where tourists can buy not only typical handicrafts crafted by the Guambianos ethnic community (see Figure 6a), but also taste fried trout from the fish hatchery developed by the same ethnic community with the support of the Government (see Figure 6b). Tourists can also visit the Purace National Natural Park to observe the Condor of Los Andes, the national bird of Colombia (see Figure 6C) and to practice some hiking (see Figure 6d).

Figure 6 Tourist attractions around Popayan, Colombia; a) Typical handcraft elaborated by the Guambianos ethnic community in Silvia (Colombia), b) Fried trout from the fish hatchery developed by the Guambianos ethnic community, c) The Condor of Los Andes at the Colombian National Park Purace, d) Thermal Waters at the at the Colombian National Park Purace. Photos: Diana Contreras.

Nevertheless, there is still a lot to do to develop the whole touristic potential of Popayán and make this sector, the source of employment that the city needs. Earthquakes in the past destroyed several times the jewels of the colonial architecture, which prevented Popayan from being recognised as world heritage. A panoramic view of Popayan is presented in Figure 7.

Figure 7 Panoramic view of Popayan, Colombia. Photo: Diana Contreras.

Learning from the experience of Popayan

Considering that we are in Easter Week and in the Catholic world the churches are currently full of parishioners and having in mind the case of Popayán, it is important to highlight the importance of retrofitting the churches and in general any kind of building that could be occupied by more than 200 people located in medium and high seismic hazard zones. Several churches are a tourist attraction because they are considered cultural heritage, therefore the retrofitting works should consider this condition to retain this designation, instead of losing it due to an earthquake. Besides the reduction of the physical vulnerability is also important to reduce the social vulnerability and increase the resilience through increase the capacity to anticipate and to cope with an emergency by signaling the emergency exits in the churches and remind the parishioners about their existence before every service or that the people in a proactive attitude look for them before the service. In case of an emergency it is necessary to evacuate in an orderly manner giving priority to children, elderly people, physically and/or mentally challenged people and pregnant women. In case of massive events is always necessary to keep logistic support from private companies or police with people trained in first aid and health facilities on the field with an ambulance available. It is also important to remind people keeping ID documents with them.

Note: This blog contains my own opinions and does not reflect the opinions of any organizations with which I am affiliated.

Acknowledgement: thanks to Jephraim Oro and John Schneider for the suggestions and proofreading of the text.