7.4 magnitude earthquake kills at least 111 in western Colombia

At least 111 people were killed and hundreds of buildings were damaged after a 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck western Colombia, with collapse and rescue efforts concentrated in Cali. The U.S. Geological Survey placed the epicenter 5 kilometers east of San José del Palmar in Chocó, near the Pacific coast. It was deep.

The death toll climbed quickly as emergency crews moved through rubble. An early count put the number at at least 77 dead before later updates pushed it far higher, while many people were trapped under debris as loved ones and rescue workers searched through collapsed structures. At least 20 buildings fell in Cali, and buildings also collapsed in Pereira.

The shaking reached far beyond the epicenter. Residents in Bogotá, Medellín and Cali felt the quake, and the tremor was felt across Colombia’s major cities and in neighboring Ecuador. People evacuated homes and buildings after the tremor.

Cali emerged as one of the hardest-hit cities because of the scale of the collapse there. Hundreds of buildings were damaged, and officials concentrated rescue efforts in the city as crews worked among fallen concrete and twisted metal. The quake’s location in western Colombia, near the Pacific coast, meant it was also felt across the border in Ecuador.

The United Nations said it was offering support to Colombia after the earthquake, as the country faced the immediate burden of treating the injured, clearing debris and accounting for those still unaccounted for in damaged buildings.