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<\/p>\nBOGOTA, Colombia — At least 47 people were killed and dozens of buildings collapsed in cities across western Colombia on Monday after a powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck the South American nation.<\/p>\n
The quake trapped residents under debris, leaving more injured and forcing people to evacuate their homes as far as the capital of Bogot\u00e1.<\/p>\n
The epicenter was in San Jose Del Palmar, a community of about 4,800 people in the Choco region about 250 miles (400 kilometers) west of Bogota, the U.S. Geological Survey and Colombia’s counterpart reported. The USGS said it struck at a depth of 66 miles (107 kilometers). The quake also was felt in neighboring Ecuador and Panama, though minimal damage was reported there.<\/p>\n
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Residents and rescue workers search through the rubble of a collapsed building after an earthquake struck Cali, Colombia, Monday, Aug. 10, 2026.<\/p>\n
AP Photo\/Santiago Saldarriaga<\/p>\n
Local officials confirmed that at least 18 people had been killed in the city of Pereira, two in the city of Manizales, and 27 people in the Valle de Cauca department, where Colombia’s third-biggest city, Cali, is located.<\/p>\n
The quake left cities across the west of the country – Pereira, Quibdo, Cali and Manizales – ravaged. A mix of residents and search teams picked through the rubble of collapsed buildings amid concerns by authorities of aftershocks. Colombia’s interior minister said more than 20 municipalities across the country had been hit.<\/p>\n
Jorge Moncayo, a 64-year-old taxi driver in Cali, said he saw plumes of dust shoot up across the city from his home in hills of the city as buildings collapsed. Residents in the city and rescue workers were searching the rubble for survivors.<\/p>\n
“My entire house shook,” he said. “I’ve never lived through such a powerful earthquake.”<\/p>\n
Colombia’s Geological Service said Monday that it had been “the highest magnitude earthquake registered in Colombia in the last decade” and that it had been followed by two 2.8 and 4.8 magnitude aftershocks. Authorities also reported that flights were suspended in the airports of Manizales, Quibdo, Armenia, Cartago y Buenaventura and Pereira.<\/p>\n