Still with the fresh memory of the earthquakes that struck neighboring Venezuela in June, Colombians woke up this Monday to a strong earthquake of magnitude 7.4, which shook the west of the country. With damage concentrated in Cali, Manizales, Armenia, and Chocó, the seismic event – the largest in a decade in Colombia – has so far left at least 74 dead. The emergency forced the newly inaugurated president Abelardo de la Espriella to halt his agenda to move to the affected area to attend to the emergency.
According to the official report from the Colombian Geological Service (SGC), the earthquake was recorded at 7:34 a.m. this Monday, with its epicenter in San José del Palmar, in the department of Chocó, about 280 kilometers west of Bogotá. According to the entity, the movement had an approximate depth of 96 kilometers, “becoming the largest magnitude earthquake recorded in Colombia during the last decade.”
The official SGC report states that this event was widely felt in different regions of the country and in neighboring countries such as Venezuela, Ecuador, and Panama. “So far, two aftershocks have been recorded, with magnitudes of 2.8 and 4.8, the latter widely felt,” they added in a statement.
The SGC first reported 6.7 degrees and 82 kilometers depth, then adjusted it to 6.6 and, in a third bulletin, set it at 7.4, the same figure calculated by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), although the latter agency estimated the earthquake depth at 110.3 km.
“It is important to note that the seismic activity recorded in this area responds to the natural tectonic dynamics of western Colombia, associated, among other processes, with the subduction of the Nazca plate beneath the South American plate. For this reason, this region has experienced earthquakes of considerable magnitude throughout its history,” indicated the SGC.
According to data recorded by the Bogotá newspaper El Tiempo, in the previous 10 years, no tremor with an epicenter in Colombian territory had exceeded 6.5 degrees. The one on May 24, 2023, in the Caribbean Sea off Montería, reached 6.5. The one on August 17, 2023, with an epicenter in San Juanito, Meta, reached 6.1 and was the most remembered in Bogotá.
The last event of magnitude 7.0 with an epicenter in the country was on February 2, 2013, in Guaitarilla, Nariño. Nine years earlier, on November 11, 2004, one of 7.2 was recorded in Bajo Baudó, Chocó. The Muisne earthquake, of 7.8 in 2016, was felt in Colombia and its epicenter was in Ecuador.
The newspaper recalled that the two largest magnitude earthquakes recorded in Colombia, in 1906 and 1979, had their epicenter off the Pacific coast, in the west of the country. On January 31, 1906, at 10:36 a.m., an earthquake of magnitude 8.8 shook the maritime border between Colombia and Ecuador. The SGC has it recorded as the strongest in the country’s history. The tremor raised a tsunami that swept the beaches of Tumaco, Mosquera, El Charco, Guapi, and Timbiquí, leaving 600 people dead.
Seventy-three years later, the same area broke again. In the early hours of December 12, 1979, an earthquake off Tumaco, of magnitude 8.1 according to the SGC and 8.2 according to the USGS, generated waves up to six meters in San Juan de la Costa. The Civil Defense counted 454 dead and more than a thousand injured, and the tsunami was even recorded on the coasts of Japan, Hawaii, and Mexico. It was one of the strongest earthquakes of the 20th century in Colombia.
Chocó also has its own precedent. On October 18, 1992, an earthquake of magnitude 7.2 with an epicenter near Murindó, on the fault of the same name in the middle Atrato, left 10 dead, more than a hundred injured, and damage in 33 municipalities. A day earlier, there had been an earthquake of magnitude 6.7. That event originated in the continental faults crossing the northwest.
At least 74 people died after the strong 7.4 magnitude earthquake recorded this Monday in Colombia, according to a CNN count based on preliminary reports from governors and mayors of the affected areas. The governor of Risaralda, Juan Diego Patiño, confirmed 40 deaths in the region, according to his statement to BluRadio, which raises the previous toll of 18 dead in Pereira and other cities.
This adds to information from other authorities: so far, 27 dead in Valle del Cauca, two in Manizales (Caldas), four in the department of Chocó; and one in Támesis (Antioquia). The governor of Valle del Cauca, Dilian Francisca Toro, said that “the situation is especially critical in several municipalities,” such as El Cairo, El Águila, Zarzas, and Cartago.
The mayor of Cali, Alejandro Eder, reported that 20 buildings collapsed during the earthquake. “At the moment we have at least 20 collapsed structures in Cali with people trapped. We are already at the forefront of this emergency with all the rescue organizations of Cali. I have requested support from the mayor of Bogotá and the mayor of Medellín with rescuers,” said the mayor.
Jorge Eduardo Rojas, mayor of Manizales, reported that the city faces a critical situation after the strong earthquake. More than 10 buildings completely collapsed and there is still an undetermined number of structures with partial damage. More than 20 homes also collapsed, although he warned that the number could increase as verification and rescue efforts progress. The dome of the Manizales Cathedral partially collapsed as a result of the earthquake.
Little is known about the city of Armenia, in the department of Quindío. Only some videos have been published on social media, reported the newspaper El Colombiano. Communications are completely collapsed, it added. Armenia experienced a strong earthquake of magnitude 6.2 on January 25, 1999, which left more than 1,200 people dead and destroyed more than half of the city. The earthquake, which devastated the Coffee Axis, is, to this day, the deadliest in the country’s history.
Meanwhile, the Civil Aeronautics confirmed damage at the airports of Pereira, Manizales, Quibdó, Armenia, Cartago, and Buenaventura. “For safety, air operations at these terminals remain suspended until structural damage to the infrastructure is assessed,” said the entity.
After the strong earthquake recorded this Monday in western Colombia, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) activated its rapid impact assessment system, known as PAGER (Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response), a tool used to estimate within minutes how many people could be affected, how many buildings could be damaged, and what the possible casualty toll might be.
The PAGER system issued an orange alert, a category indicating that significant damage and fatalities are likely, with the possibility that the emergency will require a regional or national response.
The earthquake could leave between dozens and hundreds of fatalities and cause economic losses of billions of dollars. According to the entity’s PAGER system, there is a 35% probability that the final toll will be between 100 and 1,000 deaths, while the most likely economic scenario (with 34%) contemplates damages between 100 million and 1 billion dollars. The estimated economic losses are less than 1% of Colombia’s GDP, projected the USGS.
Colombian president Abelardo de la Espriella, who took office last Friday, was forced to halt his agenda due to the earthquake in Colombia, CNN reported. The president convened an emergency committee to address the impact of the strong earthquake the country experienced this Monday.
“I am heading to Bogotá to focus on attending to the emergency our country faces. I have convened a Unified Command Post at the UNGRD (National Unit for Disaster Risk Management), from where I will personally lead actions to assist the communities of Chocó, the Coffee Axis, and all affected areas,” De la Espriella posted on X.
“To Colombians who are going through difficult times today, I want to say: you are not alone. You have a President who cares about his people and who will do everything necessary to protect, accompany, and move forward together with the affected regions,” he added.
The Minister of the Interior, Rodrigo Lara, provided details of the first actions that De la Espriella’s administration will take to address the emergencies generated by the earthquake. “The National Government, led by the Ministers of Housing and Interior and the acting director of the UNGRD, is directly attending to this situation from the entity’s headquarters. We have been in communication with the governors and mayors of the most affected departments and municipalities. Four USAR groups from Bogotá, Envigado, Yopal, and Medellín were activated to support search and rescue operations,” the official commented.
The Colombian government declared a “national disaster” situation after the strong earthquake. The Extraordinary Committee for Disaster Management, led by De la Espriella, was the body that announced the disaster declaration, aiming to expedite the mobilization of resources to assist the affected and assess the damaged infrastructure.
Shortly after the earthquake was recorded, the president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, offered her government’s support to Colombia this Monday. Sheinbaum said during her morning press conference that they will give “all the support required, if necessary, to the people of Colombia, we will be there.”
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, also expressed his solidarity with Colombia this Monday. “Our condolences to the families of those who have lost their lives and to all those affected. Every loss of life is tragic,” he wrote on his social networks. “We express our full support and solidarity to the people of Colombia and all those impacted by this disaster. We urge everyone in the world who can support the people and countries affected now to step forward and help,” he said.
The president of Chile, José Antonio Kast, stated that the country is “available” to support “in whatever Colombia needs” after the earthquake that left a preliminary toll of dozens dead in several cities of the country. “All our solidarity with the Colombian people after the strong earthquake that affected the west of the country. Chile knows the pain and challenge left by earthquakes. We are available to support whatever Colombia needs,” he posted on X.
From El Salvador, President Nayib Bukele offered rescue teams and doctors to face the tragedy. “Colombia has emergency and rescue teams in the affected areas,” Bukele said on X. “However, from El Salvador, we are in communication and ready to support immediately with our rescue teams, doctors, paramedics, supplies, or any other help our Colombian brothers consider necessary,” he added
