Jared Bridegan

The defendants

The prosecution

Defense attorneys

Key witnesses

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.

Embarking on a marathon is not for the faint-hearted.

Yet, it’s an entirely unique challenge to undertake a marathon in ever-grittier locales, such as a confined 1.38-mile stretch repeatedly traversed across the Williamsburg Bridge.

This concept paved the way for the Williamsburg Bridge Marathon, a maverick race now celebrating its fourth unconventional year. The event operates without a permit, has zero entry fees, and stunningly, lacks a set course length.

Last Friday night, as darkness settled over the city, runners gathered at the Manhattan side of the bridge, completely unaware of their journey’s distance until after they took off.

The suspense was kept alive by a randomly generated number, chosen by computer, ranging anywhere from 10 to 100. This number, disclosed on the event’s website, determined the number of bridge spans participants needed to complete and log on the fitness app Strava.

This year, it was 17 bridge spans (approximating 21.42 miles) a disappointingly short year, according to race organizer and creator Matt White.

“Hopefully the random number generator gives us something harder next time,” White told The Post.

That being said, there were still plenty of DNFs (“did not finish”), but 13 women and 55 men completed the race, with Maya Geller taking top prize for the ladies (with a time of 3:15:04) and Joe Cady coming out on top for the guys (2:30:13).

After failing to qualify for the New York City Marathon, White decided on a whim to create his own race.

“We had gone out for drinks the night before, and I was like, ‘Yeah, I bet I can do it,’” the 31-year-old software engineer told BK Reader last year. “I really liked the idea of continuing to do marathons in progressively worse locations.”

The first year, around 20 runners came out. This year, hundreds gathered for the strange event, with race volunteer James Cashen estimating anywhere between 300 and 400 attended for the same reason many people start running — a sense of community.

“To me, the race is special because it represents the best parts of New York and the running community,” Cashen told The Post. “It’s gritty, difficult and continues to build around the energy of fun-loving NYC runners.

Many participants sign up because of the absurd nature of the race, with previous participants leaving reviews like, “Not finishing this race was a win in itself,” and “This is not actually a race — more of a group experience in mutual pain.”

It also speaks to the community-building group running events lends itself to.

“I like that you can go to the bridge at almost any time of day, and there will almost always be groups of people doing radically different things,” White told BK Reader.

Similarly, Nathan Yan ran the course for the first time last year, right after he’d moved to the city, in search of a “high-effort ridiculousness” endurance event where he’d find his people.

“It was one of my very first ‘New York’ experiences,” Yan told The Post. “I just moved from Colorado where [I] used to do things like 36-hour night skiing marathons — so this was right up my alley.”

For this year’s race, Yan didn’t have high hopes of running far with the high humidity and bridge elevation.

So instead, he strapped a 45-pound rig to his back, opting to play DJ for the night and see how far he could go.

While he completed seven bridge spans (9.06 mi), the highlight was continuously passing by people gathered on the bridge, dancing and cheering on the runners pushing to finish.

“I think that’s one of the beautiful things for the format of this marathon: There’s so much back-and-forth between all the runners and support groups, you could be at a PR pace, fun pace or Type II fun pace, but no one ever gets ‘left behind’ on the bridge route,” Yan said.

Yan’s DJ rig was one of first-time Williamsburg Bridge marathoner Kaeli T.’s favorite things about the race. She said the atmosphere and energy were top-notch.

“My favorite part was, hands down, the people who showed up,” the 28-year-old told The Post.

“Someone brought a cake and was sharing slices at the midway point,” she added. “People brought lawn chairs and yoga mats to hang out on the bridge. The vibes overall were fantastic.”

While she was disappointed it wasn’t a full or even ultramarathon, Kaeli was “grateful to get a good night’s sleep after.”

But it was the support from complete strangers that night that stuck out in her mind.

“I had people clapping as I ran past, and this woman shouted ‘Get it, girl!’ at about 12:15 am on her way home from a night out,” Kaeli recalled.

“Those random moments of support are what make running and races so special in general.”

Cashen agrees with the sentiment that races, especially the unusual ones, embody what running should be about.

“Having fun, not taking yourself too seriously and putting yourself up to challenges you think may be too steep and learning to overcome them,” he explained.