00:00Major cities like Bogota, Cali, and Medellin were rocked by the earthquake.
00:05According to the president, at least 111 people have died, and as rescuers searched damaged
00:11buildings, the death toll seemed likely to increase.
00:15On Monday morning, a strong earthquake rocked much of Western Colombia, killing over 100
00:20people and forcing citizens to flee from collapsing and swaying structures in several major cities.
00:25The death toll seemed likely to increase as officials warned of potential aftershocks
00:31and rescuers dug through the debris of damaged buildings.
00:34According to the U.S. Geological Survey and Columbia's Geological Service, the 7.4 magnitude
00:40earthquake struck at 7.34 a.m. local time.
00:43Its epicenter was located about three miles east of San Jose del Palmar, a town of about
00:495,000 residents in a rural area of the Choco region, where authorities reported significant
00:55damage.
00:55Videos showed buildings in the major cities of Pereira, Manizales, and Cali that had collapsed
01:01or partially collapsed.
01:03Just a few days after taking office, President Abelardo de la Espriella announced on Monday
01:09afternoon that 111 people had been officially declared dead.
01:13He claimed that over 1,500 residential buildings had sustained damage, some of which had been
01:19completely destroyed.
01:21Numerous schools and 18 health facilities had sustained damage.
01:25According to local officials, the earthquake claimed the lives of at least 40 people in
01:29the Risaralda region, at least 27 in the nearby Valle del Calca region, 9 in the Choco region,
01:353 in Manizales, and 1 in Antioquia.
01:39Risaralda's capital, Pereira, was severely damaged.
01:41Its mayor, Mauricio Salazar, told a national radio station that 18 people had died there.
01:47About 500,000 people live in Pereira, which is only 35 miles from the epicenter of the
01:53earthquake.
01:54Bogota is about 150 miles to the west, while Medellin and Cali, Colombia's third-largest
02:00city with about 2 million residents, are both about 100 miles from the epicenter.
02:06Alejandro Hedder, the mayor of Cali, reported that at least 20 buildings collapsed, trapping
02:11people inside.
02:12He advised locals to leave their buildings if they saw damage.
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