The president of Colombia, Abelardo de la Espriella, convened the National Disaster Management Committee and ordered the establishment of a Unified Command Post (PMU) to coordinate the response to the 7.4 magnitude Richter earthquake that shook the country this Monday and has preliminarily left at least twenty dead, several injured, and material damage in various cities, according to local media.
“I have convened a Unified Command Post at the UNGRD (National Unit for Disaster Risk Management), from where I will personally lead the actions to assist the communities of Chocó, the Coffee Axis, and all affected areas,” De la Espriella wrote on the social network X.
De la Espriella also announced that he will travel to Pereira, one of the cities most affected by the seismic movement, with the aim of accompanying the impacted communities and directly supervising the care and response efforts.
Meanwhile, León Marín, mayor of San José del Palmar, a municipality located in the department of Chocó (northwest) and where the epicenter of the earthquake was located, confirmed to local media the death of several people as a result of the event.
The tremor occurred at 7:34 local time (12:34 GMT), with a magnitude of 7.4 and a depth of 96 kilometers, according to data from the Colombian Geological Service. The movement was strongly felt in Bogotá, Medellín, Pereira, Manizales, Armenia, Cali and other cities in the country.
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The Civil Aeronautics reported that several airports are affected and that, for safety reasons, operations were temporarily suspended at the air terminals of Pereira, Manizales, Quibdó, Armenia, Cartago, and Buenaventura while technical inspections are carried out to rule out structural damage.
Meanwhile, emergency agencies and local authorities are advancing a census to determine the extent of material damage and the number of people affected, especially in Pereira, Manizales, Armenia, Cali, and Buenaventura.
Images shared on social media show the partial collapse of some structures and damage to buildings during the strong earthquake, although authorities continue to verify the authenticity and scope of the reports.
The Colombian government maintains activated emergency protocols and monitors the evolution of the situation in the most impacted areas, while rescue and assessment teams survey the affected areas to establish the final disaster balance.
Read more 7.4 Earthquake shakes Colombia: injuries and severe building damage reported
