Colombia Was Shaken by a 7.4 Magnitude Earthquake That Was Felt as Far as Panama and Ecuador

Colombia Was Shaken by a 7.4 Magnitude Earthquake That Was Felt as Far as Panama and Ecuador
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A 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck Colombia on Monday morning, with its epicenter in San José del Palmar, a municipality of approximately 4,700 people in the northwestern department of Chocó, according to the United States Geological Survey. The earthquake occurred at 7:34 a.m. local time and was felt across a wide swath of the country, causing structural damage in multiple cities, trapping people in collapsed buildings in Cali and forcing the suspension of air operations at six airports while authorities assess the extent of the damage to infrastructure.

@weatherchannel

A 7.4-magnitude earthquake has hit Colombia. It was centered near San José del Palmar in the western department of Chocó. Local authorities report injuries and structural damage in Quibdó, where emergency teams are currently assessing the impact. The powerful quake forced widespread evacuations in major cities like Bogotá and Medellín, with shaking felt as far away as Ecuador and Venezuela. Officials urge residents to remain vigilant as seismic agencies monitor the region for potential aftershocks.

♬ original sound – The Weather Channel

President Abelardo de la Espriella confirmed he assumed direct leadership of the emergency response and ordered the installation of a Unified Command Post to coordinate decisions across institutions involved in assisting those affected. He also announced he would travel to Pereira, one of the hardest-hit cities, where images shared on social media showed collapsed structures including visible damage to the roof of the city’s airport.

Where the Damage Has Been Reported

The governor of Chocó, Nubia Córdoba, confirmed injuries and serious damage to buildings in Quibdó, the department’s capital, without specifying the number of people affected. In Cali, the capital of the Valle del Cauca department in southwestern Colombia, Mayor Alejandro Eder reported 19 collapsed structures with people trapped inside and called for support from rescue teams. The earthquake was also felt strongly in cities in the coffee-growing region known as the Eje Cafetero, including Manizales, located approximately 300 kilometers from Bogotá, where building damage was also reported.

The Colombian Civil Aeronautics authority reported that airports in Pereira, Manizales, Quibdó, Armenia, Cartago and Buenaventura were all affected by the earthquake and that air operations were suspended at all six facilities while structural damage to the infrastructure is evaluated. Images from Pereira, where President de la Espriella is headed, showed some of the most visible destruction, including the airport roof damage that spread widely across social media within hours of the quake.

How the Region Felt It

The earthquake was felt well beyond Colombia’s borders, reaching Panama City where some buildings were evacuated and metro operations were briefly halted, and hitting harder in areas near Panama’s southern border with Colombia, though no injuries or damage were reported there. In Ecuador, the tremor was felt in the border city of Tulcán, as well as in Ibarra and the capital Quito, where people evacuated tall buildings during a national holiday. No damage or casualties were reported in Ecuador.

In Bogotá, residents described evacuating their homes as quickly as possible and noted that the earthquake felt unusually strong for the capital. One resident who spoke to the Associated Press said the experience left him particularly shaken given the memory of the Venezuela earthquakes in June, which killed over 5,000 people and left a lasting impression on the region about the devastating potential of major seismic events.

What Comes Next for the Response

The Unified Command Post ordered by President de la Espriella will bring together the institutions responsible for coordinating rescue operations, supporting those displaced by the disaster and assessing the full scope of the damage. The suspension of air operations at six airports creates logistical challenges for getting rescue personnel and supplies into some of the hardest-hit areas, particularly Quibdó and the surrounding Chocó region, which has historically faced infrastructure challenges that complicate emergency response even under normal circumstances.

The full picture of casualties and structural damage will take time to emerge as rescue teams work through collapsed buildings in Cali and authorities complete their assessments in Pereira, Manizales and the other affected cities. Colombia sits on one of the most seismically active zones in South America, and Monday’s earthquake is a reminder of how quickly a morning can change across a country of this size and geographic complexity.

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