Devastating Earthquake in Colombia: 134 Dead, Hundreds Injured
TEHRAN (Defapress) - A violent magnitude 7.4 earthquake slammed into Colombia’s western coastline, leaving at least 134 people dead and hundreds more injured as grueling search-and-rescue operations press forward through the rubble. The powerful seismic shock, centered in the coastal province of Chocó near San José del Palmar, reverberated across vast stretches of the country, collapsing structures across multiple provinces and immediately triggering a nationwide state of emergency.
Although the epicenter was pinpointed at an intermediate depth of 76 to 107 kilometers beneath the Pacific, preventing absolute surface devastation, the massive release of subterranean tectonic energy sent destructive shockwaves surging inland. The brunt of this seismic force devastated densely populated urban centers, including Cali, Pereira, Quibdó, and Manizales, where dozens of residential and commercial towers collapsed, instantly transforming bustling streetscapes into mounds of concrete and twisted rebar.
Hundreds of kilometers away in Bogotá, the tremors swayed high-rise structures for harrowing seconds, sending millions of terrified residents fleeing into open parks and streets in the dead of night. The earthquake’s immense reach extended beyond Colombia's borders, with strong tremors felt across Ecuador, Panama, and Venezuela, sparking emergency evacuations and heightened border readiness across the region.
In response to the escalating crisis, the Colombian government declared a national state of emergency, deploying military units, Red Cross teams, and heavy disaster-response units toward Chocó and surrounding hard-hit provinces, while temporarily suspending non-essential flights across western airports to allow crews to assess runway integrity.
