At least 132 people have been killed by the magnitude 7.4 earthquake that struck western Colombia on Monday, according to tallies published by Colombian authorities on Tuesday. The figure was 111 late on Monday, when President Abelardo de la Espriella gave it to reporters.
The United States Geological Survey put the quake 5 kilometres south of San Jose del Palmar in the Choco department, at a depth of 110 kilometres, at 22:01 UTC on 10 August. That is just after 5pm Monday in Colombia and just after 8am Tuesday on Australia's east coast. The Servicio Geologico Colombiano measured the depth closer to 103 kilometres and called it the strongest quake recorded in Colombia in a decade.
Deaths so far are concentrated away from the epicentre. Risaralda, the coffee-growing province that contains Pereira, has reported at least 40. Valle del Cauca has reported 27. Choco itself, the department directly above the rupture, has reported nine.
That ordering is a function of who can be counted. Much of Choco is rural and reachable only by boat or aircraft, and San Jose del Palmar is a town of about 4,800 people. Six airports in the affected region, at Pereira, Manizales, Quibdo, Armenia, Cartago and Buenaventura, suspended operations. The passenger terminal at Pereira's Matecana International Airport partially collapsed.
“At this moment there are reported deaths, dozens of wounded, but what there are most of are missing people," Luis Gregorio Moreno, a community leader in the Choco capital Quibdo, said on Monday.”
Colombian authorities have counted 87 people injured, 61 buildings collapsed and 1,575 homes damaged. Eighteen health centres, 52 schools, 17 community centres and 18 roads have been recorded as damaged. In Cali, mayor Alejandro Eder said at least 20 buildings had come down.
The national disaster agency, the UNGRD, said there was no tsunami threat. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center gave the same assessment, on the basis that the rupture was too deep to displace enough water. The USGS issued an orange alert, its second highest, for expected casualties and economic losses.
De la Espriella declared a state of emergency. "The national government is maintaining all its capacities deployed to protect lives, assist affected communities," he said. He was sworn in on 7 August, three days before the quake, and spent his first day in office responding to bombings.
The United States, the European Union, Mexico, Ecuador and France have offered assistance. The EU has activated its Copernicus satellite mapping service to support the search.
Two aftershocks, of magnitude 2.8 and 4.8, were recorded on Monday. The count of the dead is still being assembled from the provinces that have road access. Choco's own figure is the one to watch.
