
A powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck western Colombia on Monday, killing at least 20 people and collapsing dozens of buildings across multiple cities. The quake, centered near San José del Palmar in the Chocó region, occurred at 7:34 a.m. local time at a depth of 107 kilometers, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Local officials reported 18 deaths in Pereira and two in Manizales. In Cali, at least 20 buildings collapsed, trapping residents under debris, Mayor Alejandro Eder said. The city’s airport ceiling partially fell, and videos showed travelers screaming as they took shelter. In Manizales, one of the towers of the neo-Gothic cathedral collapsed onto the nave, Mayor Jorge Eduardo Rojas said.
The tremors were felt as far as Bogotá, where Mayor Carlos Galán reported no major structural damage, only minor cracks in some buildings. The earthquake also rattled neighboring Ecuador and Panama, with reports of shaking in Quito and along Colombia’s border with Venezuela.
Colombia’s Geological Service called it the highest-magnitude quake in the country in the past decade. A 4.6-magnitude aftershock was recorded near Nóvita in Chocó shortly after the main event. Governor Nubia Carolina Córdoba-Curi of Chocó said several people were injured in the regional capital, Quibdó, and that multiple buildings were severely damaged. “We are concerned about aftershocks,” she wrote on X.
President Abelardo de la Espriella, inaugurated just days ago, ordered the establishment of a unified command post in San José del Palmar to coordinate relief efforts and assess damage. He announced plans to travel to Pereira, one of the hardest-hit cities, and assured the public that the state was responding. “You are not alone,” he said on X.
Six airports—Manizales, Quibdó, Armenia, Cartago, Buenaventura and Pereira—suspended operations due to structural damage, the Civil Aeronautics Authority said. Rescue teams from Bogotá and Medellín were dispatched to Cali to assist in search-and-rescue operations.
The U.S. Geological Survey initially reported the quake at 7.4 magnitude, while Colombia’s Geological Service first cited 6.7 before revising it upward. The discrepancy in depth measurements also varied, with Colombia’s service reporting 96 kilometers and the USGS 107 kilometers.
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