Powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake in Colombia kills at least 132, injures about 570
The epicenter of the 7.4-magnitude earthquake on Monday in Colombia was in the area of San José del Palmar, an impoverished rural municipality in Chocó, near the Pacific Ocean.
Colombian President Abelardo De La Espriella, who took office on Friday, declared his first national emergency and traveled to Quibdó, the capital of Chocó, which has the largest population of Black Colombians.
“I will be at the forefront of this national emergency, traveling the country tirelessly to make the immediate decisions,” De La Espriella said.
There were at least 132 dead and 570 injured, according to the government’s latest death toll. Officials also estimated that more than 60 buildings collapsed and about 1,600 were damaged.
De La Espriella’s administration established the main command post in Bogotá, the country’s capital, and command posts in western Colombia.
De La Espriella’s team set up a command post in Armenia, the capital city of Quindío, famous for its coffee farms in the heart of the Andes mountains.
There was also a command post in Cali, the capital of salsa dancing, and where De La Espriella took his oath of office and delivered his first presidential speech.
In Pereira, the capital of Risaralda, known as the coffee axis, search-and-rescue teams responded to collapsed buildings.
In Manizales, a city in the coffee-growing region of Caldas, the historic Metropolitan Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary partially collapsed.
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