Strong earthquake in Colombia and Ecuador as officials report deaths, injuries and collapsed buildings

At least 71 people have been killed in the 7.4-magnitude earthquake that shook western Colombia and the region Monday morning, according the Association of Capital Cities of Colombia.

Elected officials in the region also reported dozens of injuries, people trapped inside collapsed buildings and serious damages.

The quake’s epicenter was reported in the municipality of San José del Palmar in the department ​of Chocó.

Colombia’s newly inaugurated president, Abelardo De La Espriella, declared a national disaster to allow for the mobilization and coordination of emergency efforts.

In Valle del Cauca, about 254 miles south of Chocó, Gov. Dilian Francisca Toro said “the situation is serious.”

She reported the deaths of 27 people across Valle Del Cauca, including three children . Speaking from the University Hospital of the Valley, Toro said that the facility suffered “structural collapses” and that rescue and evacuation operations were underway.

In Chocó, Gov. Nubia Carolina Córdoba-Curi said on social media that injuries and serious damage to buildings have been reported in the capital city of Quibdó, about 188 miles northwest of the reported epicenter.

“We are already conducting a damage assessment to issue the first official report,” Córdoba-Curi wrote on X in Spanish.