Another Tremor in Choco as Colombia Debates a Tourism Tax Cut
COLOMBIA · RECONSTRUCTION
Key Facts
- —The tremor A magnitude 4.6 earthquake struck Istmina, Chocó, at 06:16 local time on Saturday 12 September.
- —The depth 43 kilometres, with the epicentre about 13 kilometres from Sipí.
- —Where it was felt Cali, Pereira, Armenia, Yumbo, Buga, Circasia and Dosquebradas.
- —The response Some buildings in Cali were evacuated as a precaution. No major damage reported.
- —The context One month and two days after the magnitude 7.4 earthquake of 10 August.
- —The proposal AmCham Colombia has backed a temporary VAT cut on airline tickets to help tourism in the affected areas.
The ground under Chocó has not stopped moving, and the reconstruction is now arguing about the price of a plane ticket.
A magnitude 4.6 aftershock struck Chocó on Saturday morning, felt across the coffee region and into Cali, as the government weighed a temporary tax cut aimed at restoring tourism to the earthquake zone.
The Tremor
The Servicio Geológico Colombiano recorded a magnitude 4.6 event at Istmina, Chocó, at 06:16 local time on Saturday 12 September, at a depth of 43 kilometres with the epicentre around 13 kilometres from Sipí.
It was felt in Cali, Pereira, Armenia, Yumbo, Buga, Circasia and Dosquebradas. Some buildings in Cali were evacuated as a precaution and no major damage was reported.
This falls one month and two days after the magnitude 7.4 earthquake of 10 August, which killed 321 people. More than 1,300 aftershocks have been recorded since, and one report puts the wider swarm above 1,200 events.
A 4.6 is small in energy terms and not small in effect on a population that has been feeling tremors for a month, or on buildings already weakened by the main shock.
The Tax Proposal
Separately, AmCham Colombia’s president María Claudia Lacouture publicly backed a temporary reduction in value added tax on airline tickets, aimed at restoring tourism to the Quindío and coffee-region areas hit by the earthquake.
She described the government’s evaluation of the measure as well judged for driving tourism and accelerating recovery.
The measure is at the evaluation stage. No rate and no timeframe has been announced, and no decree has been issued. Reporting it as a decided policy would be premature.
Whether It Would Work
Air fares into the coffee region are a real constraint on domestic tourism, and Colombian domestic aviation carries a heavy tax load relative to the base fare.
The argument against is the one made against every sectoral tax break. It costs revenue immediately, the benefit accrues partly to airlines rather than passengers, and removing it later is politically harder than granting it.
The argument for is that the coffee region’s economy is unusually tourism-dependent and the alternative forms of support are slower to reach it.
What is not in dispute is the need. Sixteen departments and 498 municipalities recorded effects from the August earthquake, and the reconstruction programme now runs to eleven decrees.
Why Aftershocks Keep Coming
Aftershock sequences follow a well-described statistical pattern. Frequency declines roughly in inverse proportion to the time since the main shock, and magnitude is capped at somewhat below the main event.
A magnitude 7.4 releases an enormous amount of energy along a fault, and the surrounding rock adjusts for months. More than 1,300 recorded events in a month is high but not anomalous.
The practical danger is cumulative rather than individual. A structure cracked by the main shock can fail in a tremor a fraction of its size, which is why engineering assessment before reoccupation matters more than the magnitude of any single aftershock.
What the Coffee Region Lost
Quindío and the wider Eje Cafetero are among Colombia’s most tourism-dependent departments, built around coffee estates, small hotels and a national park economy.
That model has almost no shock absorption. A small hotel with no bookings has no revenue, and the sector employs a large share of the local workforce directly and indirectly.
It also has a precedent. The 1999 Armenia earthquake killed around a thousand people in the same region, and the reconstruction took years. The tourism economy that rebuilt afterwards is the one now exposed again.
That history is why a tax measure aimed at restoring visitor numbers is being discussed at all, ahead of the more conventional instruments.
More: Colombia news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
What was the tremor?
A magnitude 4.6 earthquake at Istmina, Chocó, at 06:16 on 12 September 2026, at 43 kilometres depth.
Was there damage?
No major damage reported. Some buildings in Cali were evacuated as a precaution.
How does it relate to the August earthquake?
It falls one month and two days after the magnitude 7.4 event of 10 August, which killed 321 people. More than 1,300 aftershocks have been recorded since.
What is the tax proposal?
A temporary reduction in value added tax on airline tickets, to support tourism in the earthquake-affected coffee region.
Has it been adopted?
No. It is under government evaluation, with no rate, timeframe or decree announced.
Sources: El Tiempo, Infobae, Pulzo, El Pais, Servicio Geologico Colombiano.
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