A violent magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck western Colombia on Monday morning, with its epicenter in the department of Chocó, causing collapses and severe damage to numerous buildings in cities including Cali, Pereira, Manizales and Quibdó. According to counts first reported by The Guardian, local authorities confirmed at least 132 deaths and more than 570 injured in the hours after the quake.
The main tremor was recorded at 7:34 a.m. local time by the U.S. and Colombian geological services, and was felt across neighboring regions and in nearby countries. Videos shared on social media, collected and verified by international outlets, show dramatic scenes: people searching for missing persons in the rubble of a four-story hotel in Cali, the partial collapse of the San José church in Pereira, and the moment an apartment building in Manizales gave way while residents fled into the street.
Early estimates of human and material losses indicate that western Colombia bore the brunt of the impact. In Valle del Cauca authorities report 27 deaths; in Pereira, capital of the department of Risaralda, there are about 40 fatalities and dozens of collapsed buildings; in Manizales, in the department of Caldas, at least two deaths have been confirmed. The governor of Chocó reported injured people and severely damaged buildings in the regional capital, Quibdó.
Mayors of the hardest-hit cities described scenes of chaos and panic. Cali mayor Alejandro Eder said about 20 buildings had collapsed and stressed the need to map the most dangerous areas to protect lives and organize rescue efforts. He said initial actions focused on searching for and rescuing people trapped under the rubble.
In Pereira, mayor Mauricio Salazar reported that 65 buildings had collapsed and that victims were feared trapped in at least 15 structures; five of the city’s hospitals were overwhelmed by the influx of injured. Eyewitness accounts collected by the media described the quake as “the four longest minutes of my life,” with roofs collapsing and streets full of fleeing people.
National authorities declared a state of emergency and announced the deployment of the government’s full operational capabilities to “protect lives, assist affected communities and provide aid where necessary,” words attributed to President Abelardo de la Espriella in an address to the nation. The president, who took office only days earlier, personally visited some of the hardest-hit areas, promising rent subsidies for those who lost their homes and sending security reinforcements.
Extraordinary measures were imposed in several cities: curfews were instituted in Cali, Armenia and Manizales and, according to preliminary reports, fears of looting prompted authorities to deploy police and military forces on the streets. The government announced the dispatch of 1,000 additional security officers to support operations on the ground.
Rescue efforts are concentrating on search-and-rescue operations among the rubble, with specialized teams and volunteers engaged in extracting the injured. The risk of aftershocks has led mayors to urge residents not to re-enter buildings until structural checks have been completed; the head of Manizales warned citizens to stay outdoors pending inspections and possible seismic replicas.
Infrastructure consequences are already evident: overcrowded hospitals, damaged historic buildings and interruptions to essential services in some areas. Local authorities are attempting to establish humanitarian corridors and reception areas for those who have lost their homes or cannot safely return. Complete data on damage to electrical, water and communications networks across the affected territory are not yet available.
The casualty and damage figures should be considered provisional and may change in the coming hours and days as emergency teams complete checks and reach areas that have so far been isolated. For now, detailed information comes mainly from The Guardian article and official communications from Colombian authorities cited by that outlet; other national official tallies were not available at the time of the initial reconstruction.
Colombia lies in a seismically active region, where the convergence of the Andean and Caribbean tectonic plates makes significant seismic events recurrent. In recent months nearby Venezuela had already suffered a deadly double tremor on 24 June, a reminder of the region’s vulnerability to strong quakes.
As rescue operations continue and the government coordinates assistance, the assessment of structural damage and reconstruction remains pending. Authorities will also have to manage public order in the severely affected cities and ensure aid reaches the most isolated communities in Chocó and other impacted areas. For now, many questions remain unanswered: the final death toll, the full extent of the damage and the duration of the emergency — matters that only fieldwork will clarify in the hours and days ahead.
Immediate priorities are saving lives and establishing aid flows for thousands left homeless or injured by the quake, while the country prepares to measure the real impact of one of the most devastating tremors in recent years in that part of Latin America.