More than 111 people were killed and hundreds injured after a powerful magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck western Colombia on Monday, flattening buildings and causing widespread destruction as authorities warned the death toll could rise.
The epicenter was in San Jose Del Palmar, a municipality in the Choco region about 250 miles (400 kilometers) west of Colombia's capital, Bogota, the U.S. Geological Survey and Colombia's counterpart reported. The USGS said it struck at a depth of 66 miles (107 kilometers).
It was felt in Ecuador and as far away as Panama to the north, and prompted building evacuations in Bogota, AFP reporters saw.
Colombia's Geological Service said Monday's quake was the country's strongest recorded "in the 21st century," and that it was followed by 21 less powerful aftershocks.
Colombia's Pacific region around the quake's epicenter lies along the "Ring of Fire," the line of seismic faults encircling the Pacific Ocean where most of the world's earthquakes occur. The Pacific, particularly the Choco region, is one of Colombia's poorest, nestled in dense jungle. Much of Choco is only reachable by boat or plane, which may pose a problem for authorities in assessing the wider toll.
The earthquake was also felt in the neighbouring countries of Venezuela, Ecuador and Panama.
At least 47 deaths were reported in Pereira, police chief Óscar Leonel Ochoa told Radio Caracol.
Another 27 have died in the department of Valle del Cauca, including three children, according to Governor Dilian Francisca Toro.
In the department of Chocó, at least four people were killed and 69 injured, the regional government reported.
Three people have died and hundreds have been injured in the city of Manizales, where 10 to 12 buildings collapsed entirely, while other houses sustained severe damage, according to Mayor Jorge Rojas.
A tower of the cathedral in Manizales was also damaged.
Power supplies, telephone services and other communication links have been disrupted.
In Cali, the mayor reported more than 20 collapsed buildings, with people believed to be trapped inside.
In Quibdó, the capital of the Chocó department, panic broke out following the earthquake and several aftershocks. Governor Nubia Carolina Córdoba reported injuries and severe damage to buildings.
The quake's epicentre was located near the town of San José del Palmar in the Chocó department, some 240 kilometres west of Bogotá, at a depth of 96 kilometres, the Colombian Geological Service (SGC) said on X.
News outlets aired footage of some buildings with their facades ripped off by the quake.
In Bogota, some people ran out into the street in their pajamas as emergency sirens rang out, AFP reporters saw.
The temblor 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 5,000 people.
