At least 132 people have been killed and hundreds more injured after a powerful earthquake struck western Colombia, prompting authorities to declare a national emergency.
Officials warned that the death toll could rise as rescue teams search collapsed buildings for people feared trapped beneath the rubble.
The magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck at 7:34am local time on Monday at a depth of 103 kilometres in Chocó province, according to Colombia’s geological service. Tremors were felt across much of western Colombia and in neighbouring Venezuela, Ecuador and Panama.
Pereira, a city in Colombia’s coffee-growing region about 55 kilometres from the epicentre, suffered some of the most severe destruction. At least 40 people were killed across its metropolitan area, while 65 buildings collapsed. People are believed to remain trapped inside 15 of them.
Verified footage showed a building collapsing in Plaza Bolívar, Pereira’s main square, sending clouds of dust and debris across an area where large numbers of people had gathered.
A curfew has been imposed in parts of the city until 5am on Tuesday as emergency crews continue searching damaged neighbourhoods.
The earthquake was centred near San José del Palmar in Chocó province. Despite damage to roads leading into and out of the village, Mayor León Fabio Marín Moncada said no deaths or injuries had been reported there.
More than 480 people were injured nationwide, the Colombian Association of Capital Cities said in an update on Monday. Fatalities were also reported in Manizales, Quibdó and Medellín, as well as elsewhere in the Chocó and Valle del Cauca regions.
In Cali, around 160 kilometres south of Pereira and approximately 200 kilometres from the epicentre, 32 buildings collapsed.
Londoner Dan Cutler, 29, who has been travelling through Colombia with his partner for about two months, said the earthquake woke them at their hotel in Cali.
“I’ve never experienced anything like it.”
“We sprinted outside in our pyjamas. There’s no major structural damage to the hotel, but there are surface cracks in the walls, and paint and plaster have peeled off,” he says.
At least two deaths were confirmed in Manizales, where residents described cracks forming in buildings and masonry falling into the streets.
Journalist and meteorologist Luis Felipe Molina was at home in Manizales, about 150 kilometres from the epicentre, when the earthquake struck.
He said previous earthquakes had led the city to introduce “very strict seismic-resistant building regulations”, helping his building withstand the tremors.
“I have 450 books and only a few were left standing on the shelves. You could hear glass breaking and people screaming,” he told BBC Mundo.
“It was a terrible and terrifying experience.”
Colombia’s aviation authority reported damage at regional airports serving Pereira, Manizales, Quibdó, Armenia, Cartago and Buenaventura.
Trees and traffic lights shook violently in Bogotá, while cracks were reported in some buildings. However, authorities had not recorded any serious damage to infrastructure in the capital.
President Abelardo de la Espriella declared a national disaster, granting the government emergency powers that include reallocating public funds to support rescue and recovery operations.
The president, who took office only on Friday, confirmed that more than 1,500 homes had been damaged.
International offers of assistance followed as the scale of the destruction became clearer. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington was “closely monitoring” the situation and stood “ready to support”.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the European Union’s Copernicus satellite system was assisting the rescue operation. El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele also offered personnel and equipment.
The US Geological Survey estimated that around 1.5 million people experienced shaking approaching magnitude seven.
Although deep earthquakes are generally considered less dangerous than those occurring nearer the Earth’s surface, they can spread energy across a wider area and still cause extensive damage to buildings. They may also produce fewer but potentially more powerful aftershocks.
The disaster comes less than two months after two earthquakes struck northern Venezuela, killing more than 6,300 people.
