Magnitude 7.4 earthquake in Colombia kills 111, injures 87 as rescue teams search rubble

Earthquake strikes western Colombia

A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck western Colombia on Monday, 10 August, at 7:34 local time (14:34 in Poland), with the epicenter located near San Jose del Palmar in Choco department, approximately 280 km west of Bogota. The US Geological Survey measured the depth at 107 km. National geological services described it as the strongest earthquake to hit Colombia in a decade. Tremors were felt in all 32 department capitals and across neighboring Panama, Ecuador, and Venezuela. USGS assessed that significant casualties and widespread damage were probable, while confirming no tsunami threat.

Rising death toll

President Abelardo de la Espriella announced that 111 people had been killed and 87 injured, with 61 buildings collapsed nationwide. The toll rose rapidly through the day: initial reports spoke of 20 dead, then 47, before the president confirmed 111. A state of emergency was declared, with authorities prioritizing the search for people trapped under rubble. The disaster came just days after de la Espriella's inauguration as president.

Regional breakdown of casualties

The highest death toll was in Risaralda department, where AP reported at least 40 killed, while Governor Juan Diego Patiño told Caracol television that 42 people had died there. Valle de Cauca, home to Cali, recorded 27 deaths. Choco confirmed nine, Caldas two, and Antioquia one. An earlier report by Super Express listed 18 dead in Pereira and two in Manizales before the toll climbed further.

Damage to cities and infrastructure

In Cali, a city of 2 million residents, Mayor Alejandro Eder told AP that people remained trapped in at least 19 collapsed buildings. In a separate interview with Caracol television, Eder said at least 30 buildings had collapsed, with rescue operations active at ten of them. Footage broadcast by Caracol showed firefighters and Colombian Red Cross workers carrying a survivor on a stretcher from one destroyed building. In Manizales, one of the towers of the neo-gothic cathedral basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary collapsed, along with several houses in the historic center. The basilica, built in the 1920s, had survived several previous earthquakes. In Pereira, social media footage showed a building with a cracked facade collapsing in a cloud of dust. Choco Governor Nubia Carolina Cordoba reported injuries and serious building damage in Quibdo and the municipalities of Alto Baudo and Bajo Baudo. Colombia's civil aviation authority reported at least 10 airports damaged, with six closed to civilian traffic.

Aftershocks and ongoing rescue

Authorities warned of possible aftershocks. Two had been recorded by the time of reporting, with magnitudes of 2.8 and 4.8. Rescue teams and residents continued searching rubble for survivors. Dorota Siry, a Polish resident of Bogota, told TVN24 that the capital suffered little damage due to its distance from the epicenter, but that cities like Cali, Manizales, and Pereira sustained heavy losses. She noted that rescue teams had not yet reached all collapsed buildings but had already pulled living people from the rubble.

It was before 8, around 7:30. It was a shock that I think all residents of Bogota felt.

Siry added that poorer districts consistently suffer most in such disasters because their construction does not meet seismic standards. The earthquake occurred in the Pacific Ring of Fire, where roughly 90% of the world's earthquakes take place. In June, a double earthquake in neighboring Venezuela killed at least 6,000 people. In 1999, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake near the city of Armenia in Colombia killed over 1,100.