A powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck western Colombia on Monday, killing at least two people and collapsing dozens of buildings. The tremors were felt as far away as the capital, Bogotá, forcing residents to evacuate their homes. This was reported by infohub.kz.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey and Colombia's seismological center, the epicenter was in San José del Palmar, a community of about 4,800 people in the Chocó region, approximately 400 kilometers west of Bogotá. The quake struck at a depth of 107 kilometers. It was also felt in neighboring Ecuador.
Chocó Governor Nubia Córdoba said on social media that there were injuries and serious damage to buildings in the regional capital, Quibdó, a city of about 130,000 people. She did not provide further details.
Footage shared by local media showed homes and small buildings collapsing in Pereira, Cali, and Quibdó. In Manizales, a city about 300 kilometers west of Bogotá, one of the towers of the neo-Gothic cathedral collapsed and fell onto the nave.
In Cali, a city of nearly 2 million people, Mayor Alejandro Eder said that residents were trapped in at least 19 collapsed buildings.
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.
"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.