Colombia on Monday declared a state of emergency following a powerful earthquake that caused at least 111 deaths and flattened dozens of buildings, trapping more victims underneath.
The 7.4-magnitude quake struck western Colombia at 7:34 am (1234 GMT) and triggered a frantic search for survivors in several cities.
“The national government is maintaining all its capacities deployed to protect lives, assist affected communities and deliver aid to every area that needs it,” President Abelardo de la Espriella stated from Bogota.
The leader appointed just three days ago reported 111 deaths, 87 people injured and over 1,000 buildings were damaged.
The quake’s epicenter was in Colombia’s coastal Choco region at a depth of 100 kilometers (60 miles). Authorities in the impoverished area reported 12 deaths.
The nearby city of Pereira was one of the worst-hit areas, with local authorities earlier announcing that at least 40 people had died in the Risaralda region of which it is the provincial capital.
The quake crumpled a tower of a beloved cathedral in the city of Manizales, an AFP journalist observed.
“A great many buildings” in the city sustained damage, said administrative worker Jaime Zuluaga, 50. “Traffic is paralyzed and people don’t want to go back to their homes for fear of an aftershock.”
– ‘Missing people’ –
At least 20 buildings crumbled in Colombia’s third-largest city, Cali, trapping people beneath the debris, Mayor Alejandro Eder said.
Choco’s governor warned of serious damage in the provincial capital Quibdo, where videos showed more buildings reduced to rubble.
“We are all devastated,” Quibdo community leader Luis Gregorio Moreno told AFP.
“At this moment there are reported deaths, dozens of wounded, but what there are most of are missing people,” he said.
Ecuador, Panama and Venezuela also felt the early-morning quake, which prompted building evacuations in the Colombian capital, Bogota.
Still wearing their pajamas, crowds of people rushed out into the street upon feeling the tremor, AFP reporters saw.
“The quake was very, very strong,” said content creator Valeria Polo, 29, in the capital, where only minimal damage was recorded.
Six small airports in western Colombia suspended operations, the civil aeronautics agency said, and the soccer governing body postponed upcoming football matches.
Washington is “closely monitoring the large earthquake that struck Colombia and stands ready to support the people of Colombia,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on X.
European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen said the EU was “ready to provide more support” to the South American country.
“We have already mobilised Copernicus, our satellite service, to help with rescue operations,” she wrote on social media.
Israel, Mexico, Ecuador and France also offered assistance.
Latin America is already reeling from two disastrous quakes that struck Venezuela in June, killing more than 6,000 people and causing widespread destruction.
AFP
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