Entire Colombian village swallowed by the Earth (December 23, 2010)

[link to colombiapassport.com] “It seems like a movie of 1974, but at this time I write this post, a Colombian village, Gramalote in North Santander, is being swallowed by the earth. Another chapter of the tragic 2010 winter in Colombia. The minister of interior, Germán Vargas Lleras, visited the place of the disaster and sentenced that the town will disappear in a few hours. The 90 percent of its population has been evacuated as rescue teams try to recover official and historical documents from government buildings that were destroyed by the strain natural phenomenon. Gramalote is a municipality of 918.942 inhabitants. It was founded in 1857 on a geological fault of the Eastern ranges of the Colombian Andes. Minister Vargas said to the media that the order to evacuate was followed quickly by the population, so there is not deadly victims. About four thousand inhabitants from the affected sectors of the town were located in special camps. The minister and a journalist of Caracol, Eduardo Galeano, reported that the buildings were falling like a house of cards. Most of the houses of the town are damaged and others are already buried, said the minister, so in a couple of days Gramalote will cease to exist. A hill that is next to the town, is falling on it. The inhabitants called for help when they felt a strange movement of the earth. In few minutes the buildings began to crack and fall. Electrical wires fall also. Barrio Santa Anita was the first sector to be destroyed. In less than 24 hours, the town was almost damaged in all its infrastructure and the people could only bring out of their houses a few belongings. Teams of rescuers came to the town and began the evacuation. More personnel have been arriving to the region to avoid the lost of human lives, reported minister Vargas.” -Colombia Passport News