Colombia’s strongest quake this century kills scores

A powerful earthquake struck western Colombia on Monday, killing well over a two hundred people and trapping others under collapsed buildings in what the country’s geological service called its strongest quake this century.

The magnitude 7.4 quake hit at around 7:34 a.m. local time, its epicenter near San José del Palmar in the remote Chocó department, about 400 kilometers west of Bogotá, at a depth of roughly 100 kilometers. Shaking was felt as far as the capital and into Ecuador and Panama, and at least 21 aftershocks followed within hours, including a magnitude 5.0.

The confirmed death toll climbed through the day into the low hundreds, with dozens injured and buildings down across Cali, Pereira, Quibdó and Manizales, according to President Abelardo de la Espriella and regional officials; the count was still rising as reports came in. In Cali, the country’s third-largest city, the mayor said people were trapped in at least 19 collapsed buildings, and a hospital partially gave way with patients still inside.

Reports from Chocó, closest to the epicenter, were slowed by phone and internet outages, leaving the toll there unclear in a poor, jungle region reachable mainly by boat or plane. Online registries of missing people swelled past 1,400 names by Monday afternoon, mostly in Cali and Pereira.

De la Espriella, sworn in only days earlier, declared a national state of disaster and said he was personally directing the response, deploying soldiers to the hardest-hit areas. The quake came weeks after back-to-back earthquakes killed thousands in neighboring Venezuela — a disaster still fresh for survivors who felt Monday’s shaking.