The Paez river disaster^[1] was caused by a rather superficial earthquake (with a 10 km deep hypocenter, 6.4 on the Richter scale) and subsequent mudslide that destroyed the small town of Paez, located on the foothills of the Central Cordillera of the Andes in Cauca Department in south-western Colombia, which took place on June 6, 1994.^[2] It was estimated that 1,100 people, mostly from the Paez ethnia, were killed in some 15 settlements on the Paez River basin, Cauca and Huila departments of which the eponymous town of Paez suffered 50% of the death toll.^[3][4] In response to the disaster, the government created the Nasa Kiwe Corporation to bring relief to the area, and begin the reconstruction of the affected areas.