Colombia's strongest earthquake this century has killed at least 132 people
The magnitude 7.4 quake struck San José del Palmar in Chocó at a depth of about 103km. Five departmental capitals are on red alert and seven airports have suspended operations.
At least 132 people were killed and 570 injured by the earthquake that hit western Colombia on Monday morning. The toll is provisional and rescue teams are still working through rubble in several cities.
The epicentre was San José del Palmar, in the department of Chocó, roughly 400km west of Bogotá. The Colombian Geological Service put the magnitude at 7.4 and the depth at about 103km, while the USGS record for the event puts it at 110km. Either way it is the strongest quake recorded in the country this century. More than 20 aftershocks followed.
Where it hit hardest
Pereira counted the most deaths, at 60. In Valle del Cauca, the department that contains Cali, at least 27 people died, three of them children.
Around 20 buildings came down in Cali, some with people trapped inside. Nationally the count stands at 86 collapsed buildings, five departmental capitals under red alert and seven airports with operations suspended. The government has declared a state of emergency.
Felt across four countries
Venezuela, Ecuador and Panama all reported feeling it. The combination explains the reach: at more than 100km down, seismic energy travels further before it reaches the surface, and the magnitude was high enough that a large share of it still got there. That is why so many people described a long, slow roll rather than a sharp jolt.
Portugal had a much smaller scare last week, with a magnitude 3.5 tremor felt around Odemira, Ourique and Almodôvar. And July’s magnitude 7.1 quake in Kumamoto was a reminder that the gap between prepared and unprepared buildings gets measured in lives.
Image: Flag of Colombia / Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
