Buildings collapse as major quake rocks Colombia and neighbors / Photo: JOAQUIN SARMIENTO - AFP
Buildings collapse as major quake rocks Colombia and neighbors
A powerful earthquake rocked Colombia and neighboring Latin American countries on Monday, with medical teams rushing to help victims after buildings were damaged or collapsed in several cities.
The Colombian geological service and its American counterpart USGS put the magnitude at 7.4, with an epicenter 100 km (60 miles) underground in the west of the country. Colombia had initially put it at 6.6.
Colombian officials said they did not fear a tsunami after the early-morning quake, which was also felt in Ecuador, Panama and Venezuela.
It prompted building evacuations in Bogota, AFP reporters saw, while news footage showed collapsed buildings elsewhere in the country.
The governor of Colombia's Choco province wrote on X that there were injuries and serious damage in the provincial capital Quibdo, where video obtained by an AFP reporter shows a collapsed building.
News outlets aired footage of buildings also destroyed in cities such as Pereira and Manizales in a tourist region called Eje Cafetero.
- 'Strong, really strong' -
"There is no electricity or cell phone coverage. It was strong, really strong. Things fell in my house," Martha Estrada, a 66 year old resident of Eje Cafetero, which means coffee-growing region, told AFP.
Alejandro Eder, the mayor of Cali, Colombia's third largest city, also reported "major damage" that was being evaluated with drones.
"The quake was very, very strong," said Valeria Polo, a 29 year old content creator in Bogota.
Six small airports in western Colombia suspended operations, the civil aeronautics agency said.
Bogota Mayor Carlos Galan said on Blu Radio that damage in the national capital appeared to be limited to cracks in the facades of houses and buildings.
President Abelardo de la Espriella announced he would travel to the quake-hit region.
In Bogota people ran out into the street in their pajamas as emergency sirens rang out, AFP reporters saw.
Twin earthquakes in Venezuela of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 on June 24 killed more than 6,000 people and caused devastating property damage.
F.Omari--al-Hayat
