A powerful and unending earthquake, measuring 7.4 magnitude and lasting a full four minutes, struck Colombia early this morning, causing death and destruction. Just a month and a half after the two tremors that brought Venezuela to its knees, the earth shook again in Latin America. The epicenter was in San José del Palmar, 96 km deep, in a rural area in the Colombian state of Chocó, 300 km from Bogotá. But the tremor was so powerful that it was felt throughout the region, from Ecuador to Panama. Panic erupted, but, at least according to initial estimates, no damage was reported in the capital, where firefighters are inspecting the many damaged buildings neighborhood by neighborhood. The hardest-hit cities were Cali—the country's third-largest city—Pereira, Armenia, and Manizales, where the cathedral tower also collapsed: together, they account for 3.5 million inhabitants. Here, just hours after the violent earthquake, dozens of people had already died and many buildings were reduced to rubble. The death toll, updated hourly, continues to rise.

Many are still missing, trapped under the rubble, and a race against time is underway to save their lives. Hours of anguish are unfolding in Cali, where the university hospital collapsed: the pediatrics wing and the intensive care unit in particular have become a pile of debris, and it is feared that many children are still trapped beneath them. Also destroyed is the Villa Salud Clinic, one of the city's best-known private facilities, located just a few kilometers from the auditorium where Abelardo de la Espriella took office just three days ago. And this natural emergency is the first test Trump's leader faces in his new role as President.

"I have requested a detailed report on the situation and the most urgent needs. I will personally travel to Pereira," he announced on social media, "to be close to those affected and verify the government's response. You are not alone. The government is here and is responding," he concluded. He then declared a state of emergency due to a natural disaster. But the country, as always happens in these times, is experiencing moments of chaos. In the most affected areas, there are some interruptions in gas, electricity, and water supplies. Communications are also severely affected: the authorities have asked the population to report information using social media or WhatsApp instead of cell phones to avoid overloading the lines.

The airports in Cali, Pereira, Manizales, Quibdó, Armenia, Cartago, and Buenaventura are closed at least for today "for security reasons." "Air operations at these terminals remain suspended pending an assessment of the structural damage to the infrastructure," a statement from the Italian Civil Aviation Authority states. At this time, according to the Italian Ambassador to Bogotá, Giancarlo Curcio, no Italian citizens have been reported affected by the earthquake. The Farnesina and Minister Antonio Tajani are monitoring the situation, in coordination with their headquarters in Colombia. There has been widespread concern, and now there are fears of possible aftershocks: the Andes mountain range is generally a highly seismic zone.

Colombia, in particular, is exposed to extremely high seismic risk, being one of the few countries in the world where three tectonic plates converge. The country records an average of 50,000 earthquakes per month, although most are imperceptible to humans. The epicenter of today's earthquake is the same area where some of the most devastating earthquakes in the country's history have occurred: in 1999, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck the city of Armenia, at nearly the same latitude as today's epicenter but in the Cordillera Central, causing extensive damage and nearly 1,000 deaths. In 1983, Popayán, in the Cordillera Occidental and further south, was hit by another earthquake that caused 287 deaths.

(Unioneonline)

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