A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck the west of Colombia on Monday at 7:34 a.m. local time, with the epicenter located in the municipality of San José del Palmar, in the department of Chocó, as confirmed by both the Colombian Geological Survey (SGC) and the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
The earthquake has left at least 24 people dead, in addition to numerous injuries, collapsed buildings, and severe structural damage in several Colombian cities, according to a preliminary report released by Blu Radio.
The casualty count is still being updated as emergency agencies carry out search and rescue operations. Pereira currently has the highest number of fatalities, although deaths have also been confirmed in Manizales, Cali, Roldanillo, and other municipalities in Valle del Cauca and Chocó.
Among the victims are three children who died in the Valle del Cauca after a wall fell on them during the earthquake. Fatalities were also reported in municipalities such as Zarzal and Buenaventura as the sweep of the affected areas continues.
The movement, recorded at a depth of 96 kilometers according to the SGC, was strongly felt across much of Colombian territory and resulted in casualties and significant structural damage in various regions of the country.
Numerous videos and images on social media have captured the terror of people at the moment of the tremor.
Rescue efforts continue among the rubble
One of the most chilling images has come from Cali, where a four-story building has collapsed and emergency teams are working to rescue possible survivors.
A survivor identified as Ricardo stated that at least 15 people may still be trapped under the rubble, according to Blu Radio. Firefighters and specialized teams continue to remove debris from the structure in search of survivors.
The authorities also reported nearly twenty structures with serious damage in Cali, while Pereira and Manizales are also experiencing significant structural damage.
The images showing the collapse of a building in the city of Pereira are also striking.
Several airports have been closed due to severe damage to the infrastructure.
Pereira and Manizales, among the most affected cities
The mayor of Pereira, Mauricio Salazar, confirmed a high number of fatalities in the city, where emergency teams are working in various locations to assess the extent of the damages.
In Manizales, fatalities and serious damage to buildings were also reported. Rescue agencies are conducting rounds and checks to determine if there are more people trapped or injured.
Images shared on social media also revealed that one of the towers of the Manizales Cathedral suffered severe damage and is now leaning against the center of the building.
Quibdó, very close to the epicenter
The governor of Chocó, Nubia Carolina Córdoba Curi, was one of the first officials to confirm the extent of the damage in the region.
"We have just experienced a severe seismic event in the Chocó department. We are worried about the aftershocks. Although the epicenter was in San José del Palmar, there are injuries and serious damages to buildings in the capital, Quibdó," she wrote on her X account.
The National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD) activated coordination with territorial authorities to assess the extent of the impacts, while the General Maritime Directorate (DIMAR) ruled out any tsunami threat for the Colombian Pacific coast.
Colombian government activates Unified Command Post
The president of Colombia, Abelardo de la Espriella, who took office just on August 7, convened an emergency committee to coordinate the response to the disaster and announced his travel to Pereira, one of the hardest-hit cities.
The president also announced the establishment of a Unified Command Post (UCP) to coordinate assistance for those affected and emergency operations.
"The State is present and acting," noted De la Espriella.
The vice president José Manuel Restrepo also expressed his solidarity with the affected families and noted that the priorities are to protect lives, rescue those trapped, and care for the injured.
USGS warns of the risk of a significantly higher toll of victims
The United States Geological Survey activated its PAGER (Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response) system following the earthquake, which is used to make rapid estimates of the potential human and economic impact of major earthquakes.
The system issued an orange alert, a category that indicates significant damage and loss of life are likely, and that the disaster might require a regional or national response.
The PAGER estimates do not represent a victim count, but rather probabilistic projections calculated based on factors such as the earthquake's intensity, the exposed population, and the vulnerability of the buildings.
According to the assessment released after the earthquake, the most probable scenario, at 35%, places the final toll between 100 and 1,000 fatalities.
The probability distribution considers a 10% chance of between 1 and 10 fatalities; a 27% chance of between 10 and 100; a 35% chance of between 100 and 1,000; and a 20% chance of between 1,000 and 10,000 deaths. The likelihood of exceeding 10,000 victims is below 5%.
In the economic section, the scenario deemed most likely by the system anticipates losses between 100 million and 1 billion dollars.
The USGS located the hypocenter at a depth of 110.3 kilometers, while the Colombian Geological Service set it at 96 kilometers. Differences in preliminary estimates of location and depth between seismic agencies are common and may be adjusted later as more data is analyzed.
The earthquake was felt throughout the country
The tremor was felt in practically all major cities of the country, including Bogotá, Medellín, Cali, Manizales, Pereira, and Barranquilla, according to a report by El Tiempo.
In Bogotá, located about 280 kilometers east of the epicenter, alarms sounded and hundreds of people evacuated buildings as a precautionary measure.
The mayor Carlos Fernando Galán reported that no structural damage had been recorded in the buildings of the capital at the time of his report, although the strong tremor prompted preventive evacuations.
The mayor of Medellín reported "a strong tremor" and indicated that the authorities were continuing to check for any impact in the city.
The earthquake crossed borders
The seismic movement was also felt beyond Colombian borders, as detailed by CNN en Español.
In Ecuador, the National Risk Management Secretariat clarified that the earthquake "was felt mildly in Los Ríos, Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, Esmeraldas, and Guayas; and moderately in Pichincha and Imbabura."
Perceptions were also reported in Panama, although there has been no official confirmation of damages in either of the two neighboring countries.
A region of high seismic activity
Colombia is one of the most seismically active countries in Latin America due to its location in the Pacific Ring of Fire, where the Nazca Plate converges with the South American Plate.
The department of Chocó, on the Pacific coast, is classified with a high seismic threat according to Colombian regulations NSR-10.
The region has a long history of destructive events: the Tumaco earthquake in 1979 generated a tsunami, the Popayán earthquake in 1983 caused hundreds of casualties, and the Armenia earthquake in 1999 resulted in over 1,000 deaths and destroyed much of the city.
The earthquake this Monday occurs just weeks after a double tremor with magnitudes of 7.1 and 7.5 shook Venezuela in June, leaving at least 6,125 dead, according to the latest figures from the Venezuelan government, in what has been considered the strongest earthquake recorded in that country since 1900.
Colombian authorities are continuing search and rescue operations and warn that the count of 24 deceased is still preliminary.
The figure could rise in the coming hours as teams gain access to collapsed buildings and local authorities consolidate reports from the most affected areas.
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