At least 20 buildings collapse as massive quake rocks Colombia

– A powerful earthquake rocked Colombia and neighbouring Latin American countries on Aug 10, with medical teams rushing to help victims after at least 20 buildings collapsed in several cities.

The Colombian geological service and its American counterpart USGS put the magnitude at 7.4, with an epicentre 100km underground in the west of the country. Colombia had initially put it at 6.6 magnitude.

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, 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 a video shows a collapsed building.

“We have just experienced a major earthquake in the department of Choco. We are concerned about aftershocks. Although the epicentre was near San Jose del Palmar, there are injuries and significant damage to buildings in the capital, Quibdo. We are already carrying out a damage assessment and will issue the first official report shortly,” Choco Governor Nubia Carolina Cordoba-Curi said.

The governor of neighboring Risaralda province, Juan Diego Patino, told local Blu Radio there was “serious damage to some buildings” in Pereira, the provincial capital.

“What has just occurred is very severe. The images are truly shocking, with people injured and building facades collapsed,” he said.

News outlets aired footage of some buildings with their facades ripped off by the quake.

“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, said.

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, some people ran out into the street in their pajamas as emergency sirens rang out.

Twin earthquakes in Venezuela of 7.2 and 7.5 magnitudes on June 24 killed more than 6,000 people and caused devastating property damage. AFP