At least 132 people have been killed and more than 570 have been wounded in Colombia by an earthquake of magnitude 7.4 that hit the country on Monday, according to a partial count of the Colombian Association of Capital Cities (Asomatrics).
Pereira, capital of the department of Risaralda, that boundaries with San José del Palmar (Chocó), the epicentre of the earthquake, that occurred at 07:34 local time (12:34 GMT) concentrates the most fatalities, with 60 killed, according to information.
The figure provided by that institution only includes the breakdown of the capitals of the country and thus does not cover the number of killed and wounded in villages and locations around them, and they have been damaged by their hospital infrastructure, airports, public services and transport systems.
Pereira, Cali, Quibdó, Mannizales and Armenia are the main cities that have been put on Red alert for the magnitude of damage and have at least 86 collapsed buildings and 6 airports with suspended operations.
In Pereira, as well as the 60 killed, there are 16 people trapped at Medator (public cable), two collapsed buildings and 15 critical points at which rescue work continues while Marecaña International Airport remains closed for damage to its cover.
Earlier, 20 people had been reported killed in Pereira and Manizales, two cities in central Colombia, one of the areas most affected by the 7.4 magnitude earthquake that had shaken much of the national territory, local authorities had reported.
The material damage to this coffee-making area of Colombia includes the detachment of some of the roof of the Marecaña de Pereira International Airport, which remains closed, as well as those of Manizales and Armenia, in the same region, as reported by the aeronautical authority as well as affections in churches and cathedrals.
“We get to get our grandparents out. The apartment was bad, the building was completely destroyed,” told EFE Johanna Ramirez, a person living in Pereira who looks after an old couple.
A video broadcast after the earthquake shows how the central beak of the church of San José de Pereira appears, while several people on the street hold onto a police motorcycle and other elements of the environment while they are shaken by tremor, amidst chaos and confusion.
Another video recorded at Pereira shows how part of a hotel’s façade appears while the person who searches the images claims that those at the place are “good.” The earthquake, of magnitude 7.4 according to the Colombian Geological Service (GSC), had as an epicentre the town of San José del Palmar, in the department of Chocó, situated in the Pacific region, though the coffee-making area of the centre of the country was one of the most affected by earthquake.
The president of Colombia, Abelardo de la Espriella, went to explain the extent of the declaration of a natural disaster and stated that he will personally be leading the national emergency.
He also stated that the chancellery will coordinate international assistance.
“The national government keeps all its capabilities deployed to protect lives and to bring help to every note they require. The first thing is the rescue of people who are still in the rubble,” said De la Espriella.
with information from EFE news agency.
