Declaring a state of emergency, President Abelardo de la Espriella announced later that the death toll had reached 111, with a further 87 injuries. He added that he would travel to the quake-hit region.
The toll is expected to rise further as an untold number are reportedly trapped in collapsed and damaged buildings
The early-morning quake was also felt in Ecuador, Panama and Venezuela – itself hit by a devastating quake in late June – and prompted building evacuations in the Colombian capital, Bogota.
News footage showed collapsed buildings across western Colombia, though officials said they did not fear a tsunami.
The governor of Colombia’s Choco province wrote on X that there was serious damage in the provincial capital Quibdo, where video showed collapsed buildings.
Choco was at the epicentre of the quake, and the death toll from the area was not immediately known.
Alejandro Eder, the mayor of Cali, Colombia’s third largest city, reported at least 20 buildings had collapsed and people were trapped as “major damage” that was being evaluated with drones.
News outlets aired images of buildings also destroyed in cities such as Manizales.
Rescuers search for survivors at a collapsed building in Manizales, Colombia. Photo / AFP
Authorities fear the death toll will rise significantly, due to the level of damage. Photo / AFP
Martha Estrada, a 66-year-old resident of Eje Cafetero. said: “There is no electricity or cell phone coverage. It was strong, really strong. Things fell in my house.”
Six small airports in western Colombia suspended operations, the civil aeronautics agency said.
Bogota Mayor Carlos Galan said on Blu Radio that damage in the national capital appeared to be limited to cracks in the facades of houses and buildings.
In Bogota, people ran out into the street in their pyjamas as emergency sirens rang out.
Twin earthquakes in Venezuela, of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 on June 24, killed more than 6000 people and caused devastating property damage.
– AFP