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At least 20 people were killed and dozens of buildings collapsed in cities across western Colombia on Monday after a powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck the South American nation, trapping residents under debris, leaving more injured and forcing people to evacuate their homes as far as the capital of Bogota.
Local officials confirmed that at least 18 people had been killed in the city of Pereira and two in the city of Manizales.
The epicentre was in San José Del Palmar, the U.S. Geological Survey and Colombia’s counterpart reported, referring to a municipality in the Choco region of about 4,800 people and located about 400 kilometres west of Colombia’s capital, Bogota. The USGS said it struck at a depth of 107 kilometres.
In Cali, a city of two million people, Mayor Alejandro Eder said that residents were trapped in at least 20 buildings that had collapsed.
The city has requested teams from Bogota and Medellín to aid in rescue efforts, he added.
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, without providing further details.
Footage shared by local media outlets showed homes and small buildings collapsing in the cities of Pereira, Cali and Quibdo. In Manizales, a city about 300 kilometres west of Bogota, one of the towers of the neo-Gothic cathedral collapsed and fell on the nave.
Abelardo de la Espriella, just inaugurated as Colombia’s president three days ago, said in a post on X that he will personally supervise recovery efforts and install an emergency centre in San José del Palmar.
The Colombian Aviation Authority said damage had been incurred at multiple airports in the country.
Small earthquakes, known as “temblores,” are common in central and western Colombia, but those above a magnitude of six are rare. In 1999, a 6.2-magnitude quake near the city of Armenia killed more than 1,100 people.
Ten years ago, a 7.8-magnitude quake with its epicentre in Ecuador, but also felt in Colombia and Peru, killed more than 650 people.
The earthquake on Monday follows two back-to-back 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes in Venezuela. Those earthquakes destroyed hundreds of buildings and killed more than 5,000 people.
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