A resident walks past the rubble of a collapsed building in Pereira, Colombia, on Monday (local time), after a magnitude-7.4 earthquake struck western Colombia, triggering a series of building collapses and killing more than 100 people. [Reuters]
A resident walks past the rubble of a collapsed building in Pereira, Colombia, on Monday (local time), after a magnitude-7.4 earthquake struck western Colombia, triggering a series of building collapses and killing more than 100 people. [Reuters]

A magnitude of 7.4 does not, on its face, suggest a catastrophic earthquake. The hypocenter was also relatively deep — about 107 kilometers — a depth at which seismic energy typically disperses before reaching the surface, generally limiting damage.

Yet the earthquake that struck Colombia on Monday left more than 100 people dead within a single day, turning into a major disaster. Experts say the scale of destruction had less to do with the quake's magnitude than with where it hit: a coffee-growing region nestled in the Andean foothills, dense with aging buildings and vulnerable terrain.

At least 111 people were killed and 87 injured after the magnitude-7.4 quake slammed western Colombia on Monday (local time), according to Reuters and other news agencies. Sixty-one buildings collapsed, and the death toll could rise further as rescuers continue searching for people trapped under rubble.

Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella declared a national state of emergency, saying "the immediate priority is rescuing survivors," and activated a unified command center. The new government, which took office Aug. 7, was confronted with a major disaster just three days after its inauguration.

The damage was concentrated in Risaralda, one of Colombia's premier coffee-producing departments. Its capital, Pereira — an Andean foothill city about 60 kilometers from the epicenter — recorded at least 40 deaths. Sixty-five buildings collapsed in the metropolitan area alone, and in Manizales, the spire of a Gothic-style cathedral came down.

Deaths were also reported from building collapses in the Pacific port city of Buenaventura, and at least 30 buildings fell in Cali, Colombia's third-largest city with a population of more than 2 million, where rescue operations are ongoing. Major cities in the west — including Chocó, Quibdó and Armenia — sustained heavy damage, and infrastructure damage was confirmed at six airports in the western region, including Pereira's.

The quake was the most powerful to hit Colombia in the past decade, The New York Times reported.

Residents and rescue workers search for survivors in the rubble of a building that collapsed in Cali, Colombia, on Monday (local time), after a magnitude-7.4 earthquake struck the country. The disaster killed at least 111 people and damaged more than 1,500 buildings, prompting the Colombian government to declare a national state of emergency. [AFP]
Residents and rescue workers search for survivors in the rubble of a building that collapsed in Cali, Colombia, on Monday (local time), after a magnitude-7.4 earthquake struck the country. The disaster killed at least 111 people and damaged more than 1,500 buildings, prompting the Colombian government to declare a national state of emergency. [AFP]

Experts point to the region's mountain terrain and urban structure as the key factors behind the scale of the destruction.

Pereira is a high-altitude city built along the Andean slopes, where unstable ground is common and steep terrain raises the risk of simultaneous building collapses and landslides when strong tremors strike. Analysts say the concentration of older buildings in the area compounded the damage further.

Residents described houses swept away by landslides and the outer walls of multi-story buildings cracking open. In some areas, electricity, water and gas supplies were all cut off, and hospitals suspended operations due to structural safety concerns and a surge in patients.

Santiago Velasquez, a local industry adviser, told The Guardian: "When the ground shook, every vehicle stopped and people running out of buildings kept falling over. Several five-story buildings cracked badly — the whole city is in a disaster situation."

Pereira ground to a near-total standstill. Mayor Mauricio Salazar declared a state of disaster and emergency, imposed a nighttime curfew in the city center, restricted vehicle traffic and suspended all school classes. Matecaña International Airport sustained facility damage, and passengers were stranded for a time on the city's Megacable gondola system.

The US Geological Survey said the earthquake struck at 7:34 a.m. near San José del Palmar in the Chocó department on the Pacific coast. Although the hypocenter was deep, cities built along the Andean range absorbed the shock directly, analysts say, which is why the damage spread so widely.

The international community moved quickly to offer emergency assistance. The United States, the EU, France, Brazil, Mexico, Ecuador and El Salvador all pledged rescue personnel and equipment. Ecuador said it would deploy 47 rescue workers and search dogs, while the EU activated its Copernicus satellite observation system to help assess damage in the affected areas.

The Colombian government is maintaining evacuation orders in anticipation of aftershocks while focusing its rescue capacity on searching for survivors still buried under the rubble.


sjy@heraldcorp.com