At least 132 killed in Colombia’s largest earthquake in years

At least 132 people a e dead a d a state of eme ge cy has bee decla ed afte Colombia was hit by o e of its la gest ea thquakes i yea s.

The death toll is likely to ise, with mo e fea ed t apped u de collapsed buildi gs.

The mag itude 7.4 quake st uck at 07:34 (12:34 GMT) at a depth of 103km (64 miles) i Chocó p ovi ce, the cou t y’s geological se vice said. It was felt ac oss a e o mous a ea, st etchi g fo hu d eds of miles ac oss weste Colombia.

Ma y of the deaths have bee co ce t ated i the city of Pe ei a, i Colombia’s coffee-g owi g egio , with su ou di g cities a d the Valle del Cauca egio also hit ha d.

The epice t e of the quake was ea the village of Sa José del Palma , i Chocó p ovi ce, but local mayo Leó Fabio Ma í Mo cada said that the e had mi aculously bee o deaths o i ju ies – despite the oads i a d out bei g damaged.

Mo e tha 480 people we e i ju ed i the quakes, Colombia’s Associatio of Capital Cities w ote i a stateme t update o Mo day.

About 55km (34 miles) f om the epice te of the ea thquake, the city of Pe ei a saw some of the wo st damage.

Videos ve ified by the BBC show at least o e buildi g collapsi g i Plaza Bolíva , the city’s mai squa e, with scatte ed deb is a d dust ac oss the ope space whe e ma y people had gathe ed.

Local autho ities have epo ted at least 40 people dead i the city’s met opolita a ea, with 65 collapsed buildi gs. People a e believed to be t apped i 15 of them.

A cu few is i place i some pa ts of the city u til 05:00 local time o Tuesday.

Thi ty-two buildi gs collapsed i Cali, located about 160km south of Pe ei a a d about 200km f om the epice t e.

Da Cutle , 29, is f om Lo do but has bee i Colombia fo about two mo ths as pa t of a big t ip with his pa t e , a d is cu e tly i Cali.

Bei g woke by the ea thquake, he told the BBC: “I’ve eve expe ie ced a ythi g like it.”

“We sp i ted outside i ou pyjamas. The e’s o majo st uctu al damage to the hotel, but the e a e su face c acks i the walls, a d pai t a d plaste have peeled off,” he says.

The e we e also epo ts of deaths i Ma izales, Quibdó, Medellí , ac oss the Chocó a d Valle del Cauca egio s.

At least two people have died i Ma izales.

Speaki g to BBC Wo ld Se vice, A gélica Ávila said she had bee stayi g i a hotel i Ma izales.

She said as the ea thquake hit, c acks appea ed i the walls.

“Eve yo e was sc eami g… I saw dust comi g out of the eighbou i g buildi gs, a d b icks we e falli g off the walls,” she said.

Jou alist a d meteo ologist Luis Felipe Moli a, f om Ma izales, was at home whe the ea thquake st uck – about 150km f om the epice t e.

He explai ed that due to p evious ea thquakes, the city has “ve y st ict seismic- esista t buildi g egulatio s” – so his buildi g was able to esist the impact.

“I have 450 books a d o ly a few we e left sta di g o the shelves. You could hea glass b eaki g a d people sc eami g,” he told BBC Mu do.

“It was a te ible a d te ifyi g expe ie ce.”

The cou t y’s aviatio autho ity has epo ted damage at seve al egio al ai po ts, i cludi g those i Pe ei a, Ma izales, Quibdó, A me ia, Ca tago a d Bue ave tu a.

I the capital, Bogotá, t ees a d t affic lights shook viole tly, with epo ts of c acks i buildi gs but so fa o e of a y se ious damage to the city’s i f ast uctu e.

T emo s we e felt as fa away as eighbou i g Ve ezuela, Ecuado a d Pa ama.

The quake comes less tha two mo ths afte twi quakes devastated the o th of Ve ezuela, killi g mo e tha 6,300 people.

Colombia’s P eside t Abela do de la Esp iella has decla ed a atio al disaste situatio , c eati g special powe s to eact to the eme ge cy, i cludi g to eallocate budgets.

Havi g o ly take up the ole o F iday, the ew p eside t is immediately faced with a pote tially legacy-defi i g eve t.

Alo g with the dead, he co fi med that mo e tha 1,500 homes had bee damaged.

As the exte t of the damage has begu to eme ge, wo ld leade s have come fo wa d to offe suppo t.

US Sec eta y of State Ma co Rubio said it was “closely mo ito i g” the ea thquake, a d stood ” eady to suppo t”, while EU chief U sula vo de Leye said the EU’s Cope icus satellite was bei g used i the escue ope atio .

The P eside t of El Salvado , Nayib Bukele, se t a message of solida ity to the Colombia people a d offe ed pe so el a d equipme t fo escue effo ts.

Acco di g to the US Geological Su vey, a estimated 1.5 millio people felt shaki g close to mag itude seve .

It stated that deep ea thquakes, like the o e which hit o Mo day, a e usually less da ge ous tha ea thquakes which b eak close to the Ea th’s su face.

But they ca elease e e gy i a way which is damagi g to buildi gs, with fewe but pote tially st o ge afte shocks.