More than 100 people have been killed after a powerful earthquake struck western Colombia on Monday, collapsing buildings, damaging hospitals and other infrastructure, and leaving people trapped beneath the rubble.
The magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck at a depth of about 107 kilometres, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). Colombia’s Geological Service described it as the strongest earthquake recorded in the country this century.
President Abelardo De La Espriella declared a national state of emergency as the government mobilised rescue teams and emergency services across the affected areas.
The President said the national government had deployed all available resources to protect lives, assist affected communities and deliver emergency aid, with rescuing people trapped under collapsed structures identified as the top priority.
De La Espriella visited Quibdo, the capital of coastal Choco province, before travelling to Cali, one of western Colombia’s largest cities. Authorities in Valle del Cauca province, where Cali is located, reported 35 deaths and around 700 injuries.
Rescue operations continued into the night, with emergency workers and volunteers using headlamps, machinery and their hands to search through collapsed buildings for survivors.
Footage from Cali showed rescuers pulling a six-month-old baby and her mother from the rubble of a five-storey building. Other footage showed emergency crews evacuating people from the windows of a damaged hospital.
In Pereira, rescuers reportedly remained in contact with a young boy trapped beneath a bakery while cranes were used to remove dangerous sections of damaged buildings.
A four-storey building also collapsed in Pereira, while part of a landmark neo-Gothic cathedral in Manizales was damaged, with debris falling onto nearby streets.
The destruction has also disrupted transportation. Colombia’s civil aviation authority suspended operations at several airports, including those in Pereira, Manizales, Quibdo, Armenia, Cartago and Buenaventura while engineers carried out structural inspections.
Several cities, including Cali, Armenia and Manizales, introduced curfews amid concerns over possible looting. Additional police and military personnel were deployed to strengthen security.
The annual Petronio Alvarez festival, a major celebration of Pacific music scheduled to begin in Cali on Wednesday, has also been postponed.
Colombia is located along the seismically active Pacific Ring of Fire, where thousands of mostly minor earthquakes are recorded each month.
Seismologists said the earthquake’s strength, inland location and movement along a fault may have contributed to the severe shaking despite its considerable depth.
The Colombian Geological Service had recorded 21 aftershocks by late Monday and warned that further tremors could occur.
The disaster comes decades after a magnitude 6.2 earthquake devastated Colombia’s coffee region in 1999, killing more than 1,000 people, particularly around Armenia and Pereira.
