Twenty one confirmed fatalities following explosion at Colombian coal mine.

Twenty one miners have now been confirmed following an explosion at a coal mine in Cundinamarca Department, Colombia, on Tuesday 14 March 2023. The explosion reportedly caused several of the mine's entrances to collapse, trapping 30 workers below ground. After 30 hours digging through the debris, rescue workers were able to recover nine miners alive. The Colombian mining industry is notoriously dangerous, with 146 miners having died in 117 incidents in the year 2022.

Rescue workers at a coal mine in Colombia, following an underground explosion which killed 21 people on Tuesday 14 March 2023. Luisa Gonzalez/Reuters.

Coal is formed when buried organic material, principally wood, in heated and pressurised, forcing off hydrogen and oxygen (i.e. water) and leaving more-or-less pure carbon. Methane is formed by the decay of organic material within the coal. There is typically little pore-space within coal, but the methane can be trapped in a liquid form under pressure. Some countries have started to extract this gas as a fuel in its own right. When this pressure is released suddenly, as by mining activity, then the methane turns back to a gas, expanding rapidly causing, an explosion. This is a bit like the pressure being released on a carbonated drink; the term 'explosion' does not necessarily imply fire in this context, although as methane is flammable this is quite likely.

Fire is much feared in coal mines due to this combination of flammable gas and solids, with methane and coal dust both potentially explosive when they come into contact with naked flames. To make matters worse, the limited oxygen supply in mines often means that such fires will involve incomplete combustion, in which all the oxygen is used up, but instead of forming carbon dioxide forms the much more deadly carbon dioxide, with potentially lethal consequences for anyone in the mine.

As coal is comprised more-or-less of pure carbon, and therefore reacts freely with oxygen (particularly when in dust form), to create carbon dioxide and (more-deadly) carbon monoxide, while at the same time depleting the supply of oxygen. This means that subterranean coal mines need good ventilation systems, and that fatalities can occur if these break down. 

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Three workers trapped underground at Colombian coal mine.

Rescue workers in Colombia are trying to reach three mineworkers who were trapped underground following a landslide on Wednesday 19 August 2020. The incident happened at the El Alisal coal mine near the town of Lenguazaque, in the department of Cundinamarca in the central part of the country, and was caused by an out of control mine truck. The miners are only 23 m below the ground, but recue work has been hampered by an unstable slope, which has now been stabilised, and a large amount of debris, which is still being removed.  

 

Rescue workers at the at the El Alisal coal mine in Colombia. Nicolás García Bustos/Twitter.

The trapped miners are being supplied with food, water, and oxygen through a pipe; oxygen supplies are particularly important in coal mines, as coal is comprised more or less of pure carbon, and therefore reacts freely with oxygen (particularly when in dust form), to create carbon dioxide and (more-deadly) carbon dioxide, while at the same time depleting the supply of oxygen. This means that subterranean coal mines need good ventilation systems, and that fatalities can occur if these break down.

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Seventeen deaths in two mine explosions in Colombia in two days.

A total of seventeen miners have died and five more have been injured in explosions at two separate coal mines in Colombia this week. The first explosion happened at the San Cayetano Mine in Norte de Santander Department, on Friday 3 April 2020, leaving six miners dead and one recovering in the  Erasmo Meoz University Hospital in Cucuta. The second happened at a mine at Cucunuba, in Ubaté Province in the Cundinamarca Department, on Saturday 3 April, and killed eleven miners, injuring four more.

Firefighters carrying out a rescue at a mine in Cucunuba, Colombia, on Saturday 4 April 2020. AFP.

Coal is formed when buried organic material, principally wood, in heated and pressurized, forcing off hydrogen and oxygen (i.e. water) and leaving more-or-less pure carbon. Methane is formed by the decay of organic material within the coal. There is typically little pore-space within coal, but the methane can be trapped in a liquid form under pressure. Some countries have started to extract this gas as a fuel in its own right. When this pressure is released suddenly, as by mining activity, then the methane turns back to a gas, expanding rapidly causing, an explosion. This is a bit like the pressure being released on a carbonated drink; the term 'explosion' does not necessarily imply fire in this context, although as methane is flammable this is quite likely.

Coal is also comprised more or less of pure carbon, and therefore reacts freely with oxygen (particularly when in dust form), to create carbon dioxide and (more-deadly) carbon dioxide, while at the same time depleting the supply of oxygen. This means that subterranean coal mines need good ventilation systems, and that fatalities can occur if these break down.

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Magnitude 5.2 Earthquake in Cundinamarca Department, Colombia.

The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 5.2 Earthquake at a depth of 10.3 km approximately 17 km to the northwest of the town of Ulala in Cundinamarca Department, Colombia, at before 10.40 am local time (slightly before 3.40 pm GMT) on Thursday 16 March 2017. There are no reports of any damage or casualties associated with this event, but people have reported feeling the event across much of Colombia as well as in western Guiana 

 

The approximate location of the 16 March 2017 Cundinamarca Earthquake. USGS.

 

Colombia is on the west coast of South America and the western margin of the South American Plate, close to where the Nazca Plate, which underlies part of the east Pacific, is being subducted along the Peru-Chile Trench. The Nazca Plate passes under the South American Plate as it sinks into the Earth, this is not a smooth process and the plates repeatedly stick together then break apart as the pressure builds up, causing Earthquakes. As the Nazca Plate sinks further it is partially melted by the friction and the heat of the Earth's interior. Some of this melted material then rises through the overlying South American Plate, fuelling the volcanoes of Colombia and neighbouring countries.

 

The subduction of the Nazca Plate beneath the South American Plate, and how it causes Earthquakes and volcanoes. SIO SEARCH.

 

Witness accounts of Earthquakes can help geologists to understand these events, and the structures that cause them. The international non-profit organisation Earthquake Report is interested in hearing from people who may have felt this event; if you felt this quake then you can report it to Earthquake Report here.

 

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