SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
A powerful and deadly 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck Colombia this morning. Reports are still coming in from western Colombia. Authorities say dozens of buildings have collapsed, trapping people inside and forcing thousands to evacuate. NPR's Carrie Kahn reports.
(SOUNDBITE OF STRUCTURES SHAKING)
CARRIE KAHN, BYLINE: The quake struck at 7:34 in the morning just as commuters headed to work. And as seen in this video posted on social media, students were filing into a school in the western Colombian city of Manizales.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Screaming).
KAHN: People scream and grab onto signs and light posts as cars and buses wobble on undulating streets. A large wing of a tall building teeters then separates and crashes to the ground, sending a huge plume of dust into the sky.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ALEJANDRO EDER: (Speaking Spanish).
KAHN: Alejandro Eder, the mayor of Cali, Colombia, says the situation is fluid right now with rescue crews dispersed throughout the city of around 2 million residents. Speaking to Caracol TV, Eder lists the damages, including more than two dozen buildings collapsed, but he's interrupted by the local newscaster.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
EDER: (Speaking Spanish).
UNIDENTIFIED NEWSCASTER: (Speaking Spanish).
KAHN: Rescuers had just pulled an elderly woman alive from a crumbled apartment building. She had been trapped for 4 hours under the rubble. Videos throughout the day show large crowds gathering at sites in other cities, too, trying to remove survivors trapped under large piles of concrete and twisted metal. Colombia's new far-right president, just sworn into office on Friday, says he's personally overseeing the disaster.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted on X that the Trump administration, quote, "stands ready to support the people of Colombia and its new president." The disaster comes less than two months since Venezuela was hit by a deadly quake, killing more than 6,000 people. But Lucy Jones, a renowned seismologist at the California Institute of Technology, says the two quakes are not connected, just a random yet unfortunate coincidence.
LUCY JONES: So even though this is a 7.4, the maximum shaking was much less than it was in Venezuela.
KAHN: That's because the Colombia quake struck some 65 miles deep, which Jones says can limit damage, but millions of people have been affected by it in some of Colombia's biggest cities.
Carrie Kahn, NPR News, Rio de Janeiro. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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