The Colombian journalist Alejandro Villegas has recounted in an interview the intensity with which the earthquake that shook the country was experienced and left at least 132 dead, overflowing hospitals and curfews, in addition to significant damage in several areas of the west. From Bogotá, where the seismic movement was also strongly felt, Villegas highlights the magnitude and, especially, the duration of the tremor, which lasted for several minutes.
“It was the most powerful earthquake of the century,” says the journalist when describing an earthquake that has forced emergency devices to be activated and keeps authorities searching for survivors.
An earthquake that paralyzed western Colombia
The epicenter of the earthquake was located in a rural town in the department of Chocó, one of the poorest areas of the country. According to Alejandro Villegas, the first information points to significant damage in western Colombia, especially in Chocó and nearby departments, such as Risaralda.
The journalist points out that cities in the Coffee Region such as Manizales, Pereira and Armenia have strongly felt the seismic movement. These are urban centers with around 400,000 inhabitants that, due to their history of seismic activity, largely have buildings adapted to resist earthquakes.
This preparation could have contributed, according to Villegas, to the number of deaths not being as high as one would expect due to the intensity of the phenomenon. However, he warns that the information available during the first hours is still partial and that the number of victims could increase.
“We are just knowing the size, but surely the number of victims will grow as the hours go by,” he said.
The image of the Manizales Cathedral after the earthquake
Among the images that, according to the journalist, best reflect the force of the earthquake is that of the Manizales Cathedral. One of the spiers of its central towers collapsed, leaving an especially symbolic scene due to the importance of the building. Villegas highlights the emblematic character of the cathedral, a Gothic-style construction that constitutes one of the architectural symbols of Colombia. Its deterioration has thus become one of the most representative images of the consequences of the earthquake.
“One of the spiers of the central towers collapsed and it was perhaps a very, very powerful image of what the intensity of that earthquake meant.”
In addition to the damage to religious buildings, the journalist talks about damage to homes and businesses, while authorities and emergency agencies focus on knowing the real extent of the damage.
The earthquake surprised workers and schoolchildren
The seismic movement occurred at 07:34 in the morning, a time that coincides with the start of the work and school day. Villegas explains that the children were already in schools since 7:00 a.m. and that many of them were surprised by the earthquake inside the educational centers.
Commercial activities were also about to begin, so the earthquake caused a widespread interruption of activity in the affected areas. The journalist points out that there are reports of people trapped in some buildings that have ended up collapsing, although he insists that the data continue to be very partial.
“There are people trapped at this time in some buildings that ended up collapsing, but the data is still very partial.”
The Coffee Axis, an area with important industrial and commercial activity, was practically paralyzed. Citizens took to the streets and emergency agencies began to concentrate their efforts on assessing the damage.
Airports affected and suspension of operations
The consequences of the earthquake also reached air transport. According to the information conveyed by Villegas, at least a dozen airports in the country have been affected, both in the Coffee Region and in Valle del Cauca. In some cases, operations were provisionally suspended and, in others, they remained paralyzed while the conditions of the facilities were evaluated.
The priority in the first hours, explains the journalist, is to review the state of the buildings and determine when commercial and transportation activities can safely resume.
Chocó, the epicenter and one of the most difficult areas to evaluate
The department of Chocó presents an added difficulty: communications with some of its populations are not fluid. Villegas explains that the epicenter is in a rural area and that it is still difficult to know precisely the magnitude of the damage in certain points.
Quibdó, capital of the department, has also registered the effects of the earthquake. The lack of communication with some localities makes it difficult, however, to obtain a complete picture of the situation.
While in the capitals of the Coffee Region and in Cali the population has paralyzed a good part of their activities to assess the damage, in other areas more precise information is still awaited.
Colombia activates its emergency mechanisms
Villegas highlights the experience accumulated by Colombia in the management of natural disasters. The country has faced very serious situations in the past, which, as he explains, has made it possible to strengthen the response capacity of the institutions.
In the first hours after the earthquake there have also been offers of international support. The journalist mentions Israel, Mexico and El Salvador as countries that have expressed their willingness to collaborate in rescue efforts if necessary.
The Government, for its part, has begun to coordinate the response with emergency teams and members of the cabinet. According to Villegas, the declaration of a national emergency would allow the necessary resources to be mobilized to face the first hours of the disaster.
Concern about aftershocks
Another major concern is the possibility of new aftershocks. Although subsequent movements have already been recorded, Villegas explains that, for the moment, they have not been perceptible to the population and have only been detected by seismic measurement centers.
The priority is to maintain caution and protect the population against the possibility of new movements of significant intensity.
“There are already aftershocks, although fortunately, they have not been perceived. They have been very, very light and only the measurement centers here in Colombia have managed to capture it.”
“It was almost three minutes”: this is how Villegas experienced the earthquake in Bogotá
The journalist himself was in Bogotá when he experienced the earthquake. Villegas emphasizes that, in addition to the intensity, there was an element that especially caught the attention of those who experienced it: the duration of the movement.
“I felt it. I was in a building on the sixth floor. The alarms in the residences began to ring. We thought it was an incident of insecurity when the shaking began.”
The journalist reports that the earthquake was also felt strongly in Bogotá, despite being far from the epicenter. For him, the length of the movement was one of the most striking aspects of the experience.
“Perhaps what caught the most attention and what everyone agrees on, is not only the magnitude, but also the duration. There were almost three minutes of the shaking that was recorded.”
The earthquake has become the most powerful in the South American country in the 21st century, and its drastic effects have been alleviated by the prevention generated in the country by the earthquake in the town of Armenia in 1999. That tragedy that caused the death of 971 people in that city alone, as well as 5,377 injured and more than 21,000 homes damaged or destroyed, was key for thousands of subsequent constructions to prevent disasters like the one that has occurred. faced today by the country.
“It is the most important earthquake of the century, without a doubt. Because of the power, not in the number of victims, but because of the magnitude and intensity,” he said.
