At least half a hundred people have lost their lives this Monday as a consequence of a 7.4 magnitude earthquake on the Richter scale, whose epicenter has been located near the town of San José del Palmar, in the department of Chocó, in the northwest area of Colombia.
The governor of Valle del Cauca, Dilian Francisca Toro, has reported the death of 27 people, among them at least three minors. She has emphasized that this is an initial balance that, for the moment, does not include data from the regional capital, Cali.
The official has also detailed that in the town of El Águila a hospital has collapsed, where at least five people, three adults and two children, have been trapped. In the city of El Cairo, structural damage has occurred in "about" 80% of the buildings.
On the other hand, the mayor of Pereira, Mauricio Salazar, has informed that at least 18 people have died in this municipality of the department of Risaralda due to the tremor, which has impacted around nine departments of the country.
"It is very tragic what has happened to us today. We do not know, at this moment, what the real magnitude of the earthquake's impact is. I can only provide for now the figure of 18 dead and dozens injured," he has stated in comments broadcast by local media.
In the municipality of Manizales, belonging to the department of Caldas, two deceased have been counted so far, according to an explanation given in a video published on social media by its mayor, Jorge Eduardo Rojas, who has also reported more than a dozen buildings partially or totally collapsed and more than 20 homes completely destroyed.
To this count, four more fatalities and 69 injured in the department of Chocó are added, according to the data provided on social media by its governor, Nubia Córdoba, who has not detailed so far the extent of the material damages.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) has indicated in a preliminary report that the earthquake, recorded around 7:34 a.m. (local time), had its epicenter five kilometers east of San José del Palmar and occurred at a depth of 107 kilometers.