At least 20 people died this Monday in Pereira and Manizales, two cities in central Colombia, one of the areas most affected by the 7.4 magnitude earthquake that shook much of the national territory, local authorities reported.

“So far, we have registered 18 dead people” in Pereira, said the mayor of that city, Mauricio Salazar, to the Caracol Radio station.

On the other hand, the mayor of Manizales, Jorge Eduardo Rojas Giraldo, capital of the neighboring department of Caldas, assured that at least two people died in that city.

“So far we have recorded two deaths,” the mayor assured the Colombian radio station Blu Radio, who also reported that between 20 and 30 homes collapsed in the city, in addition to several churches that suffered damage from the seismic movement, and that the Mayor's Office has already set up three shelters in different areas of the city.

The material damage in that coffee-growing area of ​​Colombia includes the detachment of part of the roof of the Matecaña International Airport in Pereira, which remains closed, like those in Manizales and Armenia, in the same region, according to the aeronautical authority, as well as damage to churches and cathedrals.

"We managed to get the grandparents out. The apartment was in bad shape, the building is completely destroyed," Johanna Ramírez, a Pereira resident who takes care of an elderly couple, told EFE.

In videos released after the earthquake, it is observed how the central peak of the church of San José de Pereira detaches, while several people who were in the street cling to a Police motorcycle and other elements of the environment while they are shaken by the tremor, in the midst of chaos and confusion.

In another video recorded in Pereira, part of the façade of a hotel is seen falling off, while the person recording the images assures that those who were in the place are “fine.”

The earthquake, of magnitude 7.4 according to the Colombian Geological Service (SGC), had as its epicenter the town of San José del Palmar, in the department of Chocó, located in the Pacific region, although the coffee-growing area in the center of the country was one of the most affected by the earthquake. EFE

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