7.4-magnitude earthquake strikes Colombia, killing more than 100 and trapping people in collapsed buildings
Epicentre was located in San José del Palmar, near Colombia's Pacific coast
A powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck western Colombia on Monday, killing at least 111 people, damaging hundreds of buildings and leaving many trapped under debris while their loved ones and rescue workers searched through rubble.
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ones → strike → rubble
Search teams and civilians picked through the remains of destroyed buildings in the country's third-largest city, Cali, passing large pieces of concrete and other rubble down a long line of volunteers.
"Our building has basically been left in ruins, and the building next to ours? Completely collapsed," said Álvaro López, who cradled his dog as he watched the search.
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he → pick → search
The desperate scene recalled the searches still ongoing in neighbouring Venezuela weeks after that country was devastated by two powerful earthquakes.
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country → recall → earthquakes
Besides Cali, the quake ravaged cities across western Colombia, including Pereira, Quibdo and Manizales, and was felt in neighbouring Ecuador and Panama.
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quake → ravage → Ecuador
The epicentre was in San José del Palmar, a community of about 4,800 people in the Choco region about 400 kilometres west of Bogota, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
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Survey → say → Bogota
Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella said at least 87 people were injured and around 1,600 buildings were damaged, including at least 61 that completely collapsed.
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that → say → 61
He declared an emergency to expedite funding for the quake recovery while saying he would visit the disaster zone.
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he → declare → zone
"We aren't going to leave people alone.
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We → go → people
They are in our hearts and we are going to tend to people with our full determination," he said.
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he → go → determination
Colombia's Geological Service said Monday's quake was the strongest recorded in Colombia "in the 21st century," and that it was followed by 21 less powerful aftershocks.
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it → say → aftershocks
Colombia's Pacific region around the quake's epicentre lies along the Ring of Fire, the line of seismic faults encircling the Pacific Ocean where most of the world's earthquakes occur.
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most → lie → earthquakes
The Pacific, particularly the Choco region, is one of Colombia's poorest regions, nestled in dense jungle.
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Pacific → nestle → jungle
Much of Choco is highly rural and only reachable by boat or plane, which may pose a problem for authorities in assessing the wider toll.
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which → pose → toll
Local authorities said the death toll included at least 40 people who were killed in the Risaralda region, where Pereira is located, and 27 people in the Valle del Cauca region, where Cali is located, including three children.
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Cali → say → children
Authorities also confirmed nine people killed in Choco, two in the Caldas region and a 73-year-old in the Antioquia region.
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Authorities → confirm → region
It was not immediately clear where the other 32 people died.
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people → die → ?
The earthquakes left many in the Andean nation unnerved after two back-to-back quakes devastated neighbouring Venezuela in late June, destroying hundreds of buildings and killing more than 6,300 people.
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quakes → leave → people
By Monday afternoon, people had begun reporting their loved ones missing on digital databases just as civilians did following Venezuela's earthquakes.
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civilians → begin → earthquakes
One database had more than 2,000 people, mostly in Cali and Pereira, with the number steadily climbing.
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number → have → Cali
Photos of the missing included a young mother and her baby in Pereira; another showed an 80-year-old woman in Cali whose family was desperately looking for details after her building collapsed.
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building → include → details
'My entire house shook'
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house → shake → ?
Jorge Moncayo, a 64-year-old taxi driver in Cali, said he saw plumes of dust shoot up across the city as buildings collapsed.
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buildings → say → city
Residents and rescue workers were searching the rubble for survivors.
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Residents → search → survivors
The local government said that people remained trapped in a number of the city's 380 damaged buildings.
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people → say → buildings
"My entire house shook.
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house → shake → ?
I've never lived through such a powerful earthquake," he said.
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he → live → earthquake
"We're thanking God we're alive."
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we → thank → God
Little was known about the extent of the damage in Choco, a remote region where officials reported dozens of injured people and damaged buildings but few other details.
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officials → know → people
The town closest to the earthquake's epicentre, San Jose del Palmar, has no airport and is located on top of a mountain ridge along a highway linking the cities of Cali and Pereira.
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town → have → Cali
In Pereira, further south in the coffee-producing mountains of Colombia, photos and videos published by local media showed pieces of the airport ceiling falling down on travellers taking shelter and screaming.
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travellers → produce → shelter
People were shown running through rubble and plumes of dust and residents said that the city was lined with collapsed stores, residential buildings and homes.
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city → show → stores
Pereira Mayor Mauricio Salazar told a local radio station there were at least 15 collapsed buildings where people were feared trapped.
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people → tell → station
In nearby Manizales, one of the towers of the neo-Gothic cathedral collapsed and fell on the nave.
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one → collapse → nave
Jorge Eduardo Rojas, the mayor of Manizales, asked residents to stay outside in case of aftershocks.
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Rojas → ask → aftershocks
Authorities said flights were suspended in the airports of Manizales, Quibdo, Armenia, Cartago, Buenaventura and Pereira as they assessed damage.
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they → say → damage
Powerful quakes rare in Colombia
Small earthquakes, known as "temblores," are common in central and western Colombia, but those above a magnitude of six are rare.
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those → know → six
In 1999, a 6.2-magnitude quake near the city of Armenia killed more than 1,100 people.
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quake → kill → people
Response to the earthquake presents the first major challenge to de la Espriella, a Trump ally who was sworn in as president over the weekend.
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who → present → weekend
A divisive figure because of his pledge of a all-out crackdown on criminal groups, de la Espriella said Monday he had personally taken charge of the government's response to the emergency.
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he → say → emergency
The state is present and taking action," he said.
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he → take → action
…and 5 more, not listed.
