Residents fled homes and offices across western Colombia on Monday morning as a major earthquake rippled through the South American nation and into neighbouring Ecuador, with emergency sirens ringing out.
Readings on the quake diverged between agencies. The U.S. Geological Survey put it at magnitude 7.4, while Colombia’s own geological service registered a 6.6. According to those agencies, the epicentre was located in San Jose del Palmar, a municipality in the Choco region about 250 miles (400 kilometres) west of the capital, Bogota, and the tremor struck at a depth of 66 miles (107 kilometres).
Injuries and serious structural damage were reported in Quibdo, the regional capital, according to Choco Governor Nubia Carolina Cordoba-Curi, who posted on X that officials were still working to gauge the full picture. Cali, Colombia’s third largest city, also reported major damage from its mayor.
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Beyond Colombia, the shaking reached Ecuador and stretched north as far as Panama. AFP reporters described people in Bogota rushing outside in their pajamas as buildings were cleared. Footage aired by news outlets showed structures with facades torn away.
A quake of this scale is unusual for the region. Only two tremors of magnitude 7 or larger have hit within 250 km of Monday’s epicentre since 1950, the USGS noted, and both of those sat closer to the coast. Smaller tremors below magnitude 7 are far more common there.
Two months earlier, on June 24, Venezuela endured twin earthquakes of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 that levelled hundreds of buildings and left more than 5,000 people dead.
Colombian authorities said damage assessments were ongoing and a first official report would follow.
This is a developing story.
