Dozens killed after powerful earthquake strikes Colombia and Ecuador

At least 111 people have been killed in the 7.4-magnitude earthquake that shook western Colombia and the region Monday morning, Colombia’s newly inaugurated president Abelardo De La Espriella said in an afternoon news conference. Elected officials in the region also reported dozens of injuries, people trapped inside collapsed buildings and serious damages. The quake’s epicenter was reported in the municipality of San José del Palmar in the department ​of Chocó. De La Espriella declared a national disaster to allow for the mobilization and coordination of emergency efforts. In Valle del Cauca, about 254 miles south of Chocó, Gov. Dilian Francisca Toro said “the situation is serious.” She reported the deaths of 27 people across Valle Del Cauca, including three children. Speaking from the University Hospital of the Valley, Toro said that the facility suffered “structural collapses” and that rescue and evacuation operations were underway. In Chocó, Gov. Nubia Carolina Córdoba-Curi said on social media that injuries and serious damage to buildings have been reported in the capital city of Quibdó, about 188 miles northwest of the reported epicenter. “We are already conducting a damage assessment to issue the first official report,” Córdoba-Curi wrote on X in Spanish. As of 1:02 p.m., Córdoba-Curi reported 12 deaths and 84 people injured in Chocó. In Pereira, a city in Colombia’s coffee-growing region, Mayor Mauricio Salazar said 18 people had died. In nearby Manizales, Mayor Jorge Eduardo Rojas ​said two people were killed. Alejandro Eder, mayor of Cali, said that at least 20 buildings have collapsed in the city “with people trapped inside.” Emergency response teams have already begun to set tents in the area to coordinate rescue efforts, Eder added. Cali is Colombia’s third largest city. Yesterday marked the beginning of a weeklong annual festival celebrating the region’s Afro-Pacific culture, which brings hundreds of thousands of tourists to the city. Cali resident Luis Angel Sarria told NBC News he strongly felt the earthquake there. “There are many damaged buildings, collapsed buildings, people trapped, and fatalities; the quake felt here was very severe,” Sarria, a taxi driver, said in Spanish. “What has happened here in my country has been very hard and very sad.” While Sarria and his immediate family are safe, he said, “we are saddened by the loss of life.” In Cali, rescue teams and volunteers began were seen clearing rubble on Monday as they searched for survivors trapped beneath some of the collapsed buildings. According to Colombia’s civil aviation authority, airports in Pereira, Manizales, Quibdó, Armenia, Cartago and Buenaventura “have been affected.” Flights at these airports have been suspended “pending an assessment of structural damage to the facilities.” José Gallegos was inside the airport in Pereira when the earthquake hit. In videos posted to his Instagram account, Gallegos can be seen hiding underneath a table as plumes of dust burst in the air and parts of the ceiling crashed into the ground. “Everything fell apart in a second,” Gallegos, an influencer, told Noticias Telemundo Ahora in Spanish. He was recording a live video when disaster struck. Gallegos described seeing walls collapsing, trapping people underneath. “At that moment, I thought I was going to die,” he said. De La Espriella stated he has “personally taken charge of the emergency response in San José del Palmar” and ordered the “establishment of a Unified Command Post to coordinate the response to the damage and assist those affected.” The president added he is awaiting a “detailed report on the situation and the most urgent needs.” The earthquake follows two back-to-back 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes in Venezuela in late June. Those earthquakes destroyed hundreds of buildings and killed more than 6,000 people. U.S. State Secretary Marco Rubio said the administration of President Donald Trump is closely monitoring the disaster in Colombia and “stands ready to support.”