Bogotá Fault
The Bogotá Fault (Spanish: Falla de Bogotá) is a major inactive slightly dextral oblique thrust fault in the department of Cundinamarca in central Colombia. The fault has a total length of 79.3 kilometres (49.3 mi), while other authors designate a length of 107 kilometres (66 mi), and runs along an average north-northeast to south-southwest strike of 013.5 ± 7 across the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, central part of the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes.
| Bogotá Fault | |
|---|---|
| Falla de Bogotá | |
The Bogotá Fault borders the Colombian capital to the east; bottom right to top left here | |
| Etymology | Bogotá |
| Named by | Clements |
| Year defined | 1940 |
| Coordinates | 4°37′25″N 74°03′11″W |
| Country | Colombia |
| Region | Andean |
| State | Cundinamarca |
| Cities | Bogotá, La Calera |
| Characteristics | |
| Elevation | 2,600–3,800 m (8,500–12,500 ft) |
| Range | Altiplano Cundiboyacense Eastern Ranges, Andes |
| Part of | Andean thrust faults |
| Length | 79.3–107 km (49.3–66.5 mi) |
| Width | 10–20 m (33–66 ft) |
| Strike | 013.5 ± 7 |
| Dip | East |
| Dip angle | 15-25 |
| Displacement | Vertical: 760 metres (2,490 ft) Slip rate: 0.01–0.1 mm (0.00039–0.00394 in)/yr |
| Tectonics | |
| Plate | North Andean |
| Status | Inactive |
| Earthquakes | Prehistorical |
| Type | Slightly oblique thrust fault |
| Movement | Dextral reverse |
| Rock units | Hanging wall: Guadalupe Gp., Chipaque Fm. Footwall: Guaduas Fm., Cacho Fm., Bogotá Fm. |
| Age | Pleistocene (<1.6 Ma) |
| Orogeny | Andean |
The fault stretches from the Gallo River at the Sumapaz Páramo in the south to the Teusacá River in the north and borders the Bogotá savanna and the Colombian capital to the east. The Bogotá Fault formed the pronounced Eastern Hills, with the well-known Monserrate and Guadalupe Hills, east of the Colombian capital. The brecciated fault zone is exposed along the road from Bogotá to La Calera and a vertical displacement of at least 760 metres (2,490 ft) has been determined. The hanging wall of the reverse fault contains the Late Cretaceous Chipaque Formation and Guadalupe Group and the footwall consists of the Paleogene and Neogene Guaduas, Cacho and Bogotá Formations.
Pulsations of the fault movement in the early Quaternary have produced the alluvial fans of the Tunjuelo Formation. In part, the fault is covered by Late Pleistocene deposits of the Sabana Formation showing a pre-Holocene activity with no known historical seismicity or registered damages. The present slip rate of the Bogotá Fault is established at 0.01 to 0.1 millimetres (0.00039 to 0.00394 in) per year.