Brief (coffeeyo.com): Colombia’s strongest earthquake this century struck on August 10, devastating the remote, impoverished department of Chocó and the coffee-growing “Coffee Triangle” regions, where rescuers are still pulling survivors from the rubble of collapsed buildings.
Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, August 11
Colombia’s Strongest Earthquake This Century
The earthquake struck at 7:34 local time. In Quibdó, capital of Chocó Department, law student Wilmo Cuesta told AFP reporters: “Some ran out naked, others jumped from the second floor of their homes.”
(August 10, in the Colombian city of Manizales, rescue workers carry out rescue operations on the rubble of an earthquake-damaged building. Xinhua-distributed photo, provided by Colombian News Agency.)
Colombia’s Geological Service said this is the strongest-magnitude earthquake the country has recorded since the beginning of this century. Updated information from the U.S. Geological Survey’s earthquake database shows the epicenter was 5 km south of San José del Palmar in Chocó Department, at a depth of 110.3 km.
Chocó borders the Pacific Ocean and is a remote region covered with tropical rainforest. According to government statistics, more than two-thirds of the department’s population lives in poverty. San José del Palmar lies about 400 km west of the capital Bogotá and has a resident population of about 4,800.
Besides Chocó, a considerable share of the quake’s damage was concentrated in Risaralda Department, one of Colombia’s “Coffee Triangle” regions. According to the National Association of Capital Cities of Colombia, at least 60 people died in Pereira, the departmental capital alone.
Photos and videos released by local media show debris from the ceiling of Pereira airport falling on travelers seeking shelter and screaming, people running amid rubble and dust, and numerous shops, apartment buildings, and homes collapsed in the city. Pereira Mayor Mauricio Salazar told a local radio station that people were trapped in at least 15 collapsed buildings.
In Manizales, capital of Caldas Department, also in the “Coffee Triangle,” a side tower of the city’s landmark neo-Gothic cathedral collapsed, with debris scattered on nearby streets. Mayor Jorge Eduardo Rojas asked residents to stay outside their homes to guard against aftershocks.
The “Coffee Triangle” lies in the Andean region of west-central Colombia, where steep green valleys are dotted with coffee plantations. Listed as a coffee cultural landscape World Heritage site, it attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.
(August 10, in the Colombian city of Manizales, buildings suffered severe damage in the earthquake. Xinhua-distributed photo, provided by Colombian News Agency.)
“Get Everyone Out Alive”
In Cali, capital of Valle del Cauca Department, the local government said some people remained trapped in the city’s 380 damaged buildings. Volunteers used simple tools such as pickaxes and even their bare hands to search for survivors.
Andrés Felipe Mejía, who temporarily joined the rescue team, told AFP reporters: “We are trying to get everyone out alive… a rescuer asked the trapped person if they could whistle, and someone whistled back.”
Rescue workers formed human chains to remove bricks and other building debris, pausing every few minutes to listen for signs of life from those trapped. Mejía said: “Many people came with supplies and food, helping the firefighters and the victims.”
According to the Associated Press, on the afternoon of the 10th people began reporting missing relatives on some online databases. One database showed more than 2,000 people missing, mostly in Cali and Pereira, and the number was still rising. CNN, citing Cali Mayor Alejandro Eder, reported that at least 188 people were missing locally.
Cali, Manizales, and Armenia (capital of Quindío Department) have declared curfews. Eder said the threat of looting forced him to deploy military and police on the streets.
Colombia lies on the circum-Pacific seismic belt, with active plate movements, and typically records thousands of small earthquakes each month. Susan van der Lee, a seismologist at Northwestern University in the United States, said that although this magnitude-7.4 earthquake had a deep focus, its strong magnitude, inland epicenter, and strike-slip faulting may have amplified the damage to densely populated valley areas. (By Hu Ruoyu)
Source: Xinhua News Agency (By Hu Ruoyu).
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