At least 132 people have died and more than 480 have been injured after a powerful earthquake struck western Colombia, prompting the country's new president to declare a state of emergency as rescue teams search for survivors trapped beneath collapsed buildings.
The magnitude 7.4 quake struck at 07:34 local time (12:34 GMT) at a depth of 103km in Chocó province, according to Colombia's geological service. It was felt across a vast stretch of western Colombia and as far away as Venezuela, Ecuador and Panama.
The death toll is expected to rise further, with officials warning that people remain trapped under rubble in several affected cities. The hardest-hit area has been Pereira, in Colombia's coffee-growing region, where local authorities have reported at least 40 deaths and 65 collapsed buildings. People are believed to be trapped inside 15 of those structures, and a curfew has been imposed in parts of the city until 05:00 local time on Tuesday.
Footage verified by the BBC showed a building collapsing in Plaza Bolívar, Pereira's main square, sending debris and dust across the open space where crowds had gathered.
In Cali, roughly 160km south of Pereira, 32 buildings collapsed. Dan Cutler, a 29-year-old from London who is travelling through Colombia with his partner, told the BBC he was woken by the tremor while staying in the city. "I've never experienced anything like it," he said. "We sprinted outside in our pyjamas. There's no major structural damage to the hotel, but there are surface cracks in the walls, and paint and plaster have peeled off."
Further deaths have been reported in Manizales, Quibdó and Medellín, and across the wider Chocó and Valle del Cauca regions. In Manizales, journalist and meteorologist Luis Felipe Molina said his home withstood the shaking thanks to strict seismic-resistant building codes introduced after previous earthquakes. "I have 450 books and only a few were left standing on the shelves. You could hear glass breaking and people screaming," he told BBC Mundo. "It was a terrible and terrifying experience."
Angélica Ávila, who was staying in a hotel in Manizales at the time, described scenes of panic as cracks opened in the walls around her. "Everyone was screaming... I saw dust coming out of the neighbouring buildings, and bricks were falling off the walls," she said.
The earthquake's epicentre was close to the village of San José del Palmar in Chocó province. Local mayor León Fabio Marín Moncada said no deaths or injuries had been recorded there despite damage to roads leading in and out of the village.
Colombia's aviation authority reported damage at several regional airports, including those serving Pereira, Manizales, Quibdó, Armenia, Cartago and Buenaventura. In the capital, Bogotá, trees and traffic lights shook violently and cracks appeared in some buildings, though officials said there had so far been no reports of serious damage to the city's infrastructure.
President Abelardo de la Espriella, who took office only days ago, declared a national disaster situation, granting the government special powers to redirect budgets towards the emergency response. He confirmed that more than 1,500 homes had been damaged in addition to the confirmed deaths.
The scale of the disaster has prompted offers of assistance from abroad. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington was "closely monitoring" the situation and stood "ready to support" Colombia. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU's Copernicus satellite system was being deployed to assist rescue operations. El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele sent a message of solidarity to the Colombian people and offered personnel and equipment to help with rescue efforts.
According to the US Geological Survey, an estimated 1.5 million people felt shaking close to magnitude seven. The agency noted that deep earthquakes such as this one are generally less destructive than shallower quakes, but can still release energy in ways that damage buildings, typically producing fewer though potentially stronger aftershocks.
The disaster comes less than two months after twin earthquakes devastated northern Venezuela, killing more than 6,300 people, adding to concerns about the region's vulnerability to major seismic events. Colombian officials and international partners are continuing to assess the full extent of the damage as search and rescue operations continue.
