Colombia quake leaves 69 dead

BOGOTA,10th August, 2026 (WAM) -- A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck western Colombia on Monday, killing at least 69 people, toppling dozens of buildings and reverberating in nearby countries too, AFP reported.

Emergency teams rushed to help victims and search for survivors under the rubble after the quake hit the coastal Choco region at 7:34 am local time.

The tremor, with an epicenter 100 kilometers (60 miles) deep in the San Jose del Palmar municipality, killed at least 40 people in the Risaralda region.

"The situation is critical," Mayor Mauricio Salazar of the provincial capital Pereira told Caracol Radio.

Twenty-seven people were killed in the Valle del Cauca department, and two more died in the city of Manizales, in Colombia's coffee-growing region.