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7.4-Magnitude
Quake
Strikes
Western
Colombia;
Death
Toll
Rises
Past 250
Luis
Fernando
Arce -
Latin
America
Tell Us
Worldwide
News
Network
SAN JOSÉ
DEL
PALMAR,
Colombia
— A
powerful
magnitude-7.4
earthquake
struck
western
Colombia,
marking
the
country’s
strongest
seismic
event
this
century.
The
epicenter
was
centered
near the
rural
town of
San José
del
Palmar
in the
dense,
remote
Chocó
department,
striking
at
approximately
7:34
a.m.
local
time.
Shaking
was felt
across
Colombia—including
in
Bogotá—as
well as
in
neighboring
Ecuador,
Panama,
and
Venezuela.
The
official
death
toll has
reached
at least
240
people
as
search-and-rescue
teams
pull
victims
from the
rubble.
Over
3,000
individuals
remain
reported
missing
or
unaccounted
for
across
public
databases
and
local
emergency
registries.
Local
health
authorities
report
hundreds
of
documented
injuries,
with
medical
teams
establishing
emergency
triage
facilities
in urban
squares.
Damage
is
widespread
throughout
Colombia’s
Pacific
region
and the
central
Coffee
Axis.
Cali,
Colombia’s
third-largest
city,
suffered
severe
urban
impact,
with at
least 40
buildings
completely
collapsing.
Confirmed
deaths
in the
department
have
surpassed
95, with
continuous
rescue
operations
underway
in
neighborhoods
buried
under
concrete
debris.
Among
the
hardest-hit
municipalities,
Pereira
has
recorded
over 66
confirmed
fatalities.
Dozens
of
residential
structures,
commercial
hubs,
and
sections
of the
regional
airport
ceiling
collapsed
during
the
initial
shock.
Situated
near the
epicenter,
the
coastal,
jungle
region
of the
Chocó
Department
faces
compound
challenges
due to
isolated
terrain.
Severe
landslides
and
disrupted
telecommunications
have
severed
contact
with
several
rural
communities.
In
Manizales,
structural
damage
spans
multiple
historic
buildings,
including
the
partial
collapse
of one
of the
towers
at the
landmark
Cathedral
of
Manizales.
Newly
inaugurated
President
Abelardo
de la
Espriella
has
declared
a
National
State of
Emergency
to
mobilize
federal
disaster
funds
and
coordinate
search-and-rescue
deployments.
Urban
search
teams
from
Medellín
and
Bogotá,
alongside
international
assistance
teams,
have
been
deployed
to
reinforce
first
responders
in Cali
and
Pereira.
Emergency
crews
report
making
several
critical
live
rescues
beneath
collapsed
structural
beams.
Civil
aviation
authorities
suspended
operations
at six
regional
airports—including
Pereira,
Manizales,
Quibdó,
Armenia,
Cartago,
and
Buenaventura—to
assess
runway
integrity
and
structural
safety.
Local
power
grids
and
water
mains
suffered
disruptions,
and
emergency
shelters
are
being
set up
for
thousands
of
residents
displaced
or
refusing
to
return
indoors
amid
recurring
aftershocks.
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