At least 20 killed after Colombia’s Pacific coast hit by 7.4-magnitude earthquake

The death toll ‌after a strong earthquake that ​rocked western Colombia on Monday has ​risen to at least 20, ⁠authorities said.In the ‌town ‌of ​Pereira, 18 people ⁠were ​killed and ​others were trapped ‌in buildings that ​collapsed, mayor Mauricio ⁠Salazar told ⁠Caracol ​Radio.In Manizales, two people were killed, mayor Jorge Eduardo Rojas said ‌in an ⁠interview with Blu Radio.The tremor was felt in the capital Bogota and as far away as Venezuela.READ MORE“We have just experienced a major earthquake in the department of ​Choco. We are concerned about aftershocks. Although the epicentre was near San Jose del Palmar, ⁠there are injuries and significant damage to buildings in the capital, Quibdo. We ‌are ‌already ​carrying out a damage assessment and will issue the first official report shortly,” Choco governor Nubia Carolina Cordoba-Curi ⁠said on X.The governor of ​neighbouring Risaralda province, Juan Diego Patino, ​told local Blu Radio there was “serious damage to some buildings” in Pereira, the ‌provincial capital. People gather at a park after evacuating their homes due to an earthquake in Cali, Colombia. Photograph: Joaquin Sarmiento/AFP via Getty Images “What has just occurred ​is very severe. The images are truly shocking, with people injured and ⁠building facades collapsed,” he said. The US ⁠tsunami warning ​system said there was no tsunami warning.Colombia’s geological service revised the quake’s magnitude higher to 7.4 and said its depth was 96km, rather than the 79km originally reported by authorities.Colombia’s National Unit for Disaster Risk Management said it was in contact with local authorities to verify potential damage. Bogota’s mayor, Carlos ‌Galan, said on ⁠X there was no major damage in the capital.Reuters witnesses in the Venezuelan border state of Tachira and the central-western city ‌of Barquisimeto reported the quake had been felt there.Venezuela was hit by devastating twin earthquakes ​in June, which killed more than 6,000 people, ​mostly on the coast near the capital, Caracas. – Reuters