De la Espriella Visits Chocó, Epicenter of Earthquake That Left 111 Dead

Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella visited Quibdó, the capital of the Chocó department and the epicenter of a powerful magnitude 7.4 earthquake that struck central and western Colombia. The tremor has resulted in at least 111 fatalities, hundreds of injuries, and widespread damage. During his visit, De la Espriella, accompanied by Chocó's governor Nubia Carolina Córdoba-Curi, emphasized the department's special place in his heart, acknowledging its long history of neglect. "Chocó has a special place in my heart because it has been an abandoned department. And I, as a lawyer, have a high sense of justice, and an injustice has been committed against Chocó for many years, and it is time for that injustice to end," the president stated. He noted that in Chocó, one of the country's poorest departments, there were 13 deaths, 119 injured, and five missing individuals. The president committed to holding a regional meeting with his government to assess the needs of the affected municipalities and confirmed the availability of economic resources to address the emergency. Following his visit to Quibdó, De la Espriella announced plans to travel to Cali, the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, another heavily impacted city. The earthquake, which occurred at 7:34 a.m. local time, had its epicenter in San José del Palmar, Chocó, at a depth of 103 kilometers. It caused substantial damage in cities like Pereira and Cali, capitals of Risaralda and Valle del Cauca, respectively. The national toll previously reported by the government included 111 deaths, 87 injured, 1,575 damaged homes, 37 destroyed homes, and 61 collapsed buildings.

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Chocó has a special place in my heart because it has been an abandoned department. And I, as a lawyer, have a high sense of justice, and an injustice has been committed against Chocó for many years, and it is time for that injustice to end.