BOGOTA, Colombia — A devastating earthquake registering 7.4 on the Richter scale rocked western Colombia on Monday, resulting in at least 20 fatalities. This seismic event caused a widespread collapse of buildings, trapping residents under debris, leaving a trail of injuries, and prompting evacuations that extended to the capital city of Bogotá.
Reports from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and its Colombian equivalent pinpointed the epicenter in San Jose Del Palmar, a small community nestled in the Choco region, approximately 250 miles (400 kilometers) west of Bogotá. The tremor originated at a depth of 66 miles (107 kilometers), reaching as far as neighboring Ecuador.
Local authorities have confirmed that the earthquake claimed 18 lives in Pereira and another two in Manizales, highlighting the quake’s deadly impact on these communities.
In the aftermath, cities across western Colombia were left in disarray, as residents sifted through the wreckage amidst looming fears of potential aftershocks.
Jorge Moncayo, a 64-year-old taxi driver living in Cali, Colombia’s third-largest city, recounted seeing clouds of dust rising across the skyline from his mountain home when the buildings crumbled. By Monday morning, residents and rescue teams were actively searching through the ruins for survivors.
“My entire house shook,” he said. “I’ve never lived through such a powerful earthquake.”
In Manizales, a city nestled in the coffee producing mountains con Colombia, one of the towers of the neo-Gothic cathedral collapsed and fell on the nave. Jorge Eduardo Rojas, the mayor of Manizales said two people had died in the city “because of the quake” and asked residents to stay outside in case of aftershocks.
Choco Gov. Nubia Córdoba said on social media that “there are injuries and serious damage to buildings” in the regional capital of Quibdó, a city of about 130,000 people. She didn’t provide further details.
Footage shared by local media outlets showed homes and small buildings collapsing in the cities of Pereira, Cali and Quibdo.
In Cali, a city 2 million people, Mayor Alejandro Eder said that residents were trapped in at least 19 buildings that had collapsed.
Small earthquakes, known as “temblores,” are common in central and western Colombia, but those above 6.0 magnitude are rare. In 1999, a 6.2 magnitude quake near the city of Armenia, killed more than 1,100 people.
Colombia’s newly inaugurated President Abelardo de la Espriella said Monday that he had personally taken charge of the government’s response to the emergency in San José del Palmar following the earthquake that struck the country.
“You are not alone. The state is present and taking action,” he said.
The quake follows two back-to-back 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes in Venezuela in late June. Those earthquakes destroyed hundreds of buildings and killed more than 5,000 people.
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