Due to an Earthquake, Twenty People are Reported Dead in Two Cities in Central Colombia.

At least 20 people died this Monday in Pereira and Manizales, two cities in central Colombia, one of the areas most affected by the 7.4 magnitude earthquake that shook much of the national territory, local authorities reported.  “So far, we have registered 18 deaths” in Pereira, the city’s mayor, Mauricio Salazar, told Caracol Radio.  On the other hand, the mayor of Manizales, Jorge Eduardo Rojas Giraldo, capital of the neighboring department of Caldas, confirmed that at least two people died in that city.  “So far we have recorded two deaths,” the mayor told Colombian radio station Blu Radio, adding that between 20 and 30 homes collapsed in the city, in addition to several churches that suffered damage from the earthquake, and that the Mayor’s Office has already opened three shelters in different areas of the city. 

The material damage in that coffee-growing region of Colombia includes the detachment of part of the roof of the Matecaña International Airport in Pereira, which remains closed, as do those of Manizales and Armenia, in the same region, according to the aeronautical authority, as well as damage to churches and cathedrals.  “We managed to get the grandparents out. The apartment was badly damaged, the building is completely destroyed,” Johanna Ramírez, a resident of Pereira who cares for an elderly couple, told media sources.  Videos released after the earthquake show the central peak of the San José de Pereira church breaking off, while several people in the street cling to a police motorcycle and other elements of the surroundings as they are shaken by the tremor, amid chaos and confusion.  In another video recorded in Pereira, part of a hotel facade is seen coming off, while the person recording the images assures that those who were in the place are “fine”.  The earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.4 according to the Colombian Geological Service (SGC), had its epicenter in the town of San José del Palmar, in the department of Chocó, located in the Pacific region, although the coffee-growing area in the center of the country was one of the most affected by the earthquake.