Colombia to provide aid for earthquake damage

The Colombian government announced that it will provide assistance to inhabitants of the towns of Ortega and El Guamo in the Tolima department, whose property was damaged during the earthquake that shook central and southern areas of the Andean nation Thursday afternoon.

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe said a bank of materials will be put together to help repair the affected buildings.

The earthquake, which measured 5.4 on the Richter scale, was felt in the nation’s capital Bogota, as well as the departments of Caqueta, Valle, Huila, Antioquia, Cundinamarca and the coffee growing region.

The quake’s epicenter was five kilometers outside of Ortega.