Earthquake with 7.4 magnitude hits Colombia killing at least 69

At least 69 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.

The epicentre was in San Jose Del Palmar, a community of about 4,800 people in the Choco region, about 250 miles (400 kilometres) west of Bogota, the US Geological Survey and Colombia’s counterpart reported. The USGS said it struck at a depth of 66 miles (107 kilometres). The quake was also felt in neighbouring Ecuador.

Local officials confirmed that at least 18 people had been killed in the city of Pereira and two in the city of Manizales.

The quake left cities across the western part of the country ravaged, and residents picking through the pieces of the rubble amid concerns by authorities of aftershocks.  Jorge Moncayo, a 64-year-old taxi driver in Colombia’s third-biggest city, Cali, said he saw plumes of dust shoot up across the city from his home in the mountains as buildings collapsed after the earthquake. Residents in the city and rescue workers were already searching the rubble of collapsed buildings Monday morning.

“My entire house shook,” he said. “I’ve never lived through such a powerful earthquake.” In Manizales, a city nestled in the coffee-producing mountains of Colombia, one of the towers of the neo-Gothic cathedral collapsed and fell on the nave. Jorge Eduardo Rojas, the mayor of Manizales, said two people had died in the city “because of the quake” and asked residents to stay outside in case of aftershocks.

Choco Gov. Nubia Cordoba said on social media that “there are injuries and serious damage to buildings” in the regional capital of Quibdo, a city of about 130,000 people. She didn’t provide further details.

Footage shared by local media outlets showed homes and small buildings collapsing in the cities of Pereira, Cali and Quibdo.

In Cali, a city of 2 million people, Mayor Alejandro Eder said that residents were trapped in at least 19 buildings that had collapsed. 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 Jose del Palmar following the earthquake that struck the country.

“You are not alone. The state is present and taking action,” he said.