Landslide occurs at Colombia’s El Peñón de Guatapé tourist attraction

The moment that a small collapse occurred at the flank of Colombia’s popular tourist attraction, El Peñón de Guatapé, on November 2, was caught on video.

Furthermore, El Peñón de Guatapé is an approximately 65-million-year-old inselberg which consists of granite and is an outcrop of the Antioquia Batholith.

It stands about 200 meters (656 ft.) tall above the surrounding ground, near the city of Guatapé in Colombia’s Antioquia department.

Debris from the collapse hit the surrounding area, which is visited by roughly 1,000 people on weekdays and about 3,500 on weekends, and resulted in 17 injuries.

According to the police, the site will remain closed while an inspection regarding its safety is carried out.

BNN network reported that a team of geologists, civil engineers, and drones has been assembled by the Department of Risk Management of Antioquia to carry out the investigation, while this event highlighted the need for proper risk assessment and monitoring of such landmarks.

The same network reported how experts believe the event was caused by natural erosion of the site, while El Colombiano stated that a team of geologists located a large discontinuity on the rock surface, which had accumulated the organic matter that collapsed.