Powerful earthquake injures people and damages buildings in Colombia

A powerful magnitude-7.4 earthquake struck western Colombia on Monday morning, injuring people, damaging buildings and sending residents out of homes and offices from the Pacific coast to the capital, Bogotá.

The quake hit at 07:34 local time, or 12:34 GMT, near San José del Palmar in Chocó province, according to Colombia’s geological service and the U.S. Geological Survey. Colombia’s geological service put the depth at 96 kilometers, or 60 miles. The USGS said the epicenter was 5 kilometers east of San José del Palmar and reported a depth of 110 kilometers. The USGS also recorded a magnitude-5.0 aftershock less than an hour later.

Chocó Gov. Nubia Carolina Córdoba-Curi said in a post on X that people had been injured and that buildings in the city of Quibdó had sustained significant damage. She did not specify the number of injuries. Córdoba-Curi said authorities were assessing the damage, and the BBC reported that she also expressed concern about possible aftershocks.

Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella said on social media that he was leading the emergency response and would travel to the earthquake zone.

The shaking was felt far beyond the epicenter. Witnesses reported tremors across Bogotá, about 250 miles east of the quake zone, and as far north as the coastal city of Barranquilla. Shaking was also reported in Ecuador to the south. Several buildings were evacuated in Bogotá, though Mayor Carlos F. Galán said no structural damage had been reported in the capital.

In Manizales, in Colombia’s coffee region, Colombian newspaper El Tiempo shared footage it said showed a collapsed building and people shouting to those they feared could be trapped underneath, the BBC reported. Video posted on social media showed the collapsed spire of a church in Manizales, and a nearby building had deep fissures in its facade.

Journalists broadcasting live on Caracol Radio described furniture shaking in their Bogotá studio, the BBC reported.

Colombia’s aviation authority reported damage at several regional airports, including facilities in Pereira, Manizales, Quibdó, Armenia, Cartago and Buenaventura.

Monday’s quake came less than two months after twin earthquakes struck neighboring Venezuela in late June. CBS News reported those magnitude-7.2 and magnitude-7.5 quakes caused widespread damage and killed more than 5,000 people; the BBC reported the death toll at more than 6,100.

The region hit by Monday’s quake also has a history of deadly seismic activity. Colombia’s coffee region was devastated by an earthquake in 1999 that killed more than 1,200 people.